Around Campus

Back to the Buses

Stay for a Bit

Back in A2, and it is GORGEOUS outside. Cup o' tea in my handmade mug, smile crested on my lips, and beautiful people everywhere. Had a wonderful trip to Tennessee, ending last night at the Ottawa Tavern in Toledo. Rill Rill playing in my head, and New York on the brain. See the documentation of my recent excursions here; http://picplz.com/user/spiritofjerry/

-P

Moving Across America

Two more weeks of soaking up beautiful Ann Arbor, and I'm off to the Big Apple. This city is growing on me. So excited for what is in store :' ]

Nighttime

A lamp reflection emits a pale glow from my window. At night, the glass does not act in a normal transparent routine. I do not see the world I wish was awake outside. Instead, the window mirrors my light, and signifies my sole proprietorship of the night.

The window's chilly surface pierces my skin with a shivering force when I close the shutters. Colder than my heart when it is empty, colder than my head which throbs with salient memories of childhood fondness. And just think, tomorrow I will stare at the same black pit of glare, save it will resemble a street of soupy concrete, ready for my hand prints and stick-scrawled John Hancock.

-written 3/11/11

Circus

Got My Camera, Yo

Hoppity, Dub Dub

Whuzzz.

Blissful Burgeon (Mashup) by djsauce

Shout Out: Riverside Disc Golf

I wrote a story this summer about the history/impact of disc golf in my hometown of Victoria, Texas. Check it out.

The Walk To North Quad

Settling In

Ann Arbor, USA

I was born in 1984. That makes no difference, but I would like to point it out.

Ann Arbor is my beautiful new home, and my house and housemates have welcomed me immensely. I am so lucky to be where I'm at, right now. School starts the day after tomorrow, and I'm excited about walking to class, peering at the old stone buildings through wind-whipped eyes in the sub-freezing temperatures. I love this weather! Call me crazy, I know. I think makes me appreciate the comforts of day to day living much more, and I live to be grateful.

Speaking of grateful, Jerry is making the rounds on the speakers of my fancy new netbook. "Reach out your hand if your cup be empty, if your cup is full may it be again..." Goodnight friends.

-P

For the Humans

Promises kept are prejudices hidden,
Tucked away in a duffel bag,
Locked inside her antique armoire.

Little lies are bigger than greenhouse gases.
They pollute leaving no trace.
They may never have consequence.

This Christmas is only one day,
And we flourish and frolick.
And snow or no snow - I have made my amends.

I will not overcome the love I bear,
Like a single magnet harboring polar opposites,
Forever repelling, and always searching for an anchor.
On some refrigerator, in someone's home, to hold my picture, so you can remember.

Dusty Sockets to Sprightly Sprockets

I am back at school today, this time filling in for first grade. Boy, I sure do miss my Pre-K class! I consider myself the luckiest man alive when I walk through the halls to the tune of "Mr. Paul, Mr. Paul!" Heck, the first graders knew who I was although I had never met most of them. Days like today are composed of the stuff that people like me live for. To affect only one student - to change his or her perception of himself or herself for the better - that is a grand accomplishment. I hear so many people reciting "God bless our troops!," and my rejoinder is "God bless our teachers!"

-W.P.

The Experiment*

Each needle they insert into my arm reminds me of a voodoo doll - a little poke here and a little poke there and "Presto!," another quick fulfillment of proverbial justice, initiated be some necromancer from afar. The nurses elicit some strange brew from my arm. It is thick and crimson, almost velvety, as it coats the insides of their vials. How I ever managed to live and to experience the sensations of feeling while that syrupy stuff coarsed through my ever-constricting vessels stupefies me. It is, however, amazing and awe-inspiring that I am still writing. The serum inspires it.

The serum inside my vessels thickens every day, and my senses are inundated by excess. My senses are flooded with extra information that deceives even the most clever of my abilities. My sense of balance yearns for a palliative stability, forgotten as soon as the flood decimated its ability to regulate my step. Luckily, I can see without experiencing double vision. Though my vision, too, has been compromised as a result of my inability to neutralize the sensation of gravity.

It is most confusing to understand exactly how my body created the serum in the first place. How cells emerged from a sort of placental, ore-like strip within my bones. They differentiated, supplied, oxidized, and infected. They continue to do so. I can't fight them like I can fight you, but I can manage their onslaught. The mother ship sends wave after wave of warriors, who fight with chivalry and loyalty as young cells, and then defect to the dark side just before they perish. My hope is that, like the convert on his deathbed, I can alter the course of fate for these cells, and give them a proper eternal resting place.

I can propel the future, so long as I am endowed with loyal legions of healthy cells. I can fight for what ails me, but I cannot defeat or win anything. It is not a decision, it is a way.

-W.P.

*A fictional narrative.

Goodbyes Are Never Hard

That's how I wish it was. I wish I could cut around memories like drawings, saving only the impression and discarding the outlines. The biggest solace is knowing that the limits of our character are never defined. On the long and winding road of life, you can't see the mile markers ahead from a standing distance, and we certainly aren't looking backward to see where we were (at least not while we're moving forward). Regardless of my understanding that connections degrade and the cyclical nature of life devours and regurgitates, I'm here bawling my eyes out while I write thank you's to the professional staff that has guided me and my students for the past two months. Humanity never ceases to amaze the tears out of me.

ScreenZen

The absolute pulsating knowledge at the throttle of a search button clearly delineates my love my OS, my browser, and my prioritized web widgets.

Vault 10.16.2010 - The Kiss

Vault 11.06.2010 - Cadi

A New Year

To save a life it must be destroyed,
When utterly destroyed, one dwells for the first time in peace. -Zenrin

100-odd miles, a sore knee, and a handful of remarkable conversations later, I find myself at the beginning of the universe. Right smack in the middle of an oasis of life, teeming with illustrious notes de amicitia, there is a preternatural aura of purpose that envelops each and every human being. To find it, one need only to sit quietly, and do nothing. For as Dharmadatu said, "Let everything be free to be just as it is. Do not separate yourself from the world and try to order it around."

100 Miles Later

This weekend, Mike C. and I are taking a bike tour through Bastrop and Buescher State Park areas. We depart from Austin, fully geared, in a matter of minutes. Can't wait to soak up that beautiful fall air along the way....

An Elephant Never Forgets

I could pretend it wasn't so special
A day as today, when I can recall
Someone as special as special can be
When special did nothing so special, you see.

An elephant remembers, but what makes it special
Is giving a wish when notice comes due.
And because I have noted that's special to me
I can easily tell that's special to you.

Special is different, and happy, you see
and special cannot remain special to me
However unique, and syllables three
Your name, you know it, dear .........

Happy birthday.

Vault 10.16.10 - Brandon and Jessie's Big Sha-Bang

I consider it fate that I have met these two wonderful humans. The following pictures are just the black and white develops - there are many more digital pictures to follow. Brandon and Jessie, I wish that your separate ways coalesce into one fastidious union that withstands every test of time. Much love, always.

Vault 10.14.2010 - Kickball

Vault: Brushin' off the Decks

Digital decks, I mean. Here is my fist-ever live mix. Check it:

straightupelectrodub by djsauce

Zen Tuesday

Those who know do not speak;
Those who speak do not know. -Lao-tzu

In my continuing studies of Buddhism, I am constantly amazed at how well the philosophies of the East resonate with my life. In contrast to the omniscient, controlling premise of the Western conception of God, I find my life influenced more by the need to observe the world than to classify everything in it. One can learn much more from listening to nature than by hopelessly trying to construct it. Alan Watts, in paraphrasing Nagarjuna (c. A.D. 200), notes that "nothing in the universe can stand by itself - no thing, no fact, no being, no event - and for this reason it is absurd to single anything out as the ideal to be grasped." In this sense, learning to let go of our conjectures to see worldly situations "from a peripheral vision" is important for the attainment of inner sanctum.

Walking Home

Intuition guides my legs
O'er the gentle Earth.
I do not tarry home
With my bundle of wood,
Nor do I hurry -
Every now is,
And every then was.

Vault: Early Reckonings

The kids are napping all around me, and I'm here at the computer thinking about what transpires outside of our school bubble of life. No day could be more peaceful than today - the sun is shining bright, smiles abound in the hallways, and I am content with the world. A little green tea and study now, a short story for the kids when they wake, and a swim after school sounds just about perfect.

Vault: More Drawings

Vault: Drawings

Here are some pieces I managed to salvage from 4-5 years back. Enjoy.