We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
9:1 Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. 9:2 She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. 9:3 She has sent out her servant girls, she calls from the highest places in the town, 9:4 "You that are simple, turn in here!" To those without sense she says, 9:5 "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. 9:6 Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight."
A birthday this week, and I am one year stronger, one year more agile, one year more energetic, one year looking fitter.
Calis are for your athleticism. The below may not sound grueling, but it is more exhausting than weight-training days if you minimize rest time. I do two hours of calis weekly, 1 calis class and 1 on my own. This was the mix I've been doing on my own recently:
Elliptical warm-up, 3 mins Band walks leg warm-up (sideways, forward, backwards, monster walk)
Each circuit below 2-3 times, overall takes me about 1 hr with 1-min breaks between rounds -
Circuit 1:
Dead ball floor slams High step-up and press heavy ball 2 min jump rope singles
Circuit 2:
Kettlebell swings Burpees 2 min jump rope running man
Circuit 3:
Kettle bell lunges Squat and overhand and underhand dumbell curls 2 min jump rope, single footed
Circuit 4:
Farmer's Walk - heavy kettles Push ups Pull-ups
And finish up with a round of heavy ball wall slams
The Nastiest Feud in Science - A Princeton geologist has endured decades of ridicule for arguing that the fifth extinction was caused not by an asteroid but by a series of colossal volcanic eruptions. But she’s reopened that debate.
While meandering around the alleys near downtown Wellfleet last week, we stumbled on this white elephant. Naturally, I was mainly attracted to its barn. The place is for sale. A 10-minute walk to the village.
It's safe to say the place could probably use some work. Roof looks great but I wonder about the age of the wiring, but from the photos it looks pretty up to date inside.
12 bedrooms, said to have been built in 1800 but I doubt that. The cool thing is that it was the home of Wellfleet's most famous son, Captain Lorenzo Dow Baker. Sea captain and entrepreneur, he's the guy who introduced the banana to the US and Europe and founded the company which became the United Fruit Company, now Chiquita Brands. Cool guy, cool life.
A husband's job is to make reasonable money, to be as physically and intellectually capable as reasonable, to be humorous and entertaining or at least of good cheer, to keep kids on a straight path, to be a role model as a good upright Godly citizen, and to maintain himself as a desirable and useful sex toy for his wife. Anything more than that is gravy.
More important: Body surfing in the ocean with the seals and Mrs. BD. What could be better?
Mrs. BD was always a water rat - lifeguard, swimmer, Sunfish sailer, very cool water skiier - but I think teaching her to body surf in the icy Wellfleet ocean is what sealed the marital deal. OK, now she likes to use a half- wetsuit which I disdain, but whatever. Thrills and chills.
Body surfing is for low tide when the big rollers come. This pic is some of my family at high tide, basking. We all go out there in August. It's a family thing. Physical recreation dawn to dusk: run,kayak, body surf, races in the ponds, maybe go fishing or clamming. Some relatives like to read on the beach but I have no patience for that.
Midday, I don't mind a half hour in the art galleries and then a couple of beers at The Lighthouse with the lobstermen and the ageing prepsters.
Best consumed on a Bermuda beach or the veranda of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club after sailing down from Newport.
Bermuda is a delightful place, and a quick trip from the East Coast. My Dad was kind enough to pay for our honeymoon there, and we have been back many times since then to refresh our honeymoon whenever needed. My parents had their honeymoon there too.
We have each done our time in the Caribbean. We don't really care for it much. Decadent, uncivilized. How many hours do you want to sit on a beach like an idiot? Well, renting a bareboat for a week might be ok, visiting de islands, mon.
4:25 So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.
4:26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
4:27 and do not make room for the devil.
4:28 Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.
4:29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.
4:31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,
4:32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,
5:2 and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
It's not the Manhattan I know, but it's a hilarious slice of a Manhattan neighborhood/subculture which is largely Jewish, but culturally, not seriously. I had to look up what "Birthright" was.
I like the way he walks around with his posse. "We've got more JAPS than all of Tokyo!"
Murray Hill is kind of middle class and nondescript.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st, Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade, When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st. So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
I got the pork chops, she got the pie She ain't no angel and neither am I Shame on your greed, shame on your wicked schemes I'll say this, I don't give a damn about your dreams...
Yes and no. Subject comes up because a pal alerted me to a litter of German Shorthairs, getting ready for the taking on Sept. 1. Their hunting pedigree is as good as it gets, so some $ is rightly involved since we aren't socialism yet where there are free champion hunting dogs.
Mrs. BD and I have rarely had a dog-free home, nor did her parents and my parents. And my grandparents, who were partial to Shepherds. I've had English Springers, Labs and (hunting? sort-of) standard poodles. Some of the most glorious times of my life have been grouse hunting in the Maine woods and in Manitoba woods and prairies (Sharptails there). Will a hunt-bred Standard Poodle point on a grouse or woodcock? Yes it can. It will chew up the darn Woodcock, tho.
I'll bet you never saw a Poodle on a hard point. Well, trust Bird Dog on that.
To me, a dog and a fireplace make a house a home. As I write that, it does sound primeval. Maybe I am a primitive male.
Here are my pros and cons, altho who ever made a decision based on such things?
Pros:
- I love having a dog around. A dog also loves me the way no human could or should.
- A well-trained dog is an incomparable companion, and a well-trained hunting dog is a precious thing to you (and your hunting pals)
Cons:
- Huge commitment. When I get a dog, I train the heck out of it. I know how. 40-minutes/day of training for at least 2 years. I want a dog that will heel to my knee without leash through a city street, a 5-mile suburban jog, or a woodland swamp. Chase a squirrel or a deer? No chance unless I give a release signal. I want a dog who will respond to whistle, voice, and hand commands. I want a dog who will Sit-Stay in front of Dunkin Donuts when I go inside. My past dogs learned those things. Any dog will - it's up to the owner. A dog's behavior is a reflection of the Master. Never ever blame the dog. I've heard people say "My dog is difficult to train", as if their dog were special and wild somehow. Pure bullshit. It's on them. Training is work, and no dog yummies. Just "Good dog."
- Re Basic Training. Do I use a shock collar outdoors? You betcha. It's not cruel. It gives you a dog you can live with. After two or three little shocks, the 3-second tone before the buzz is all it takes to remind them that you are God. "Come" or the "Come" whistle means hustle back to the Boss's knee. Dogs do like to be well-trained. Like children, training gives them Purpose and it is all relational.
- Hunt-training. Fairly costly. I can handle basic to semi-advanced obedience training, but not hunt training. You have to send them to camp for that. Then you have to go to camp with them to learn it yourself. Hand signals are the best. My last dog Paco was quite good with them, but not so good with some other things.
- I do not do much of the sort of hunting that I love best anymore. I don't know why, because I can bust brush and alder swamps all day better than I ever could. My favorite is grouse hunting in the Great North Woods, with the Moose etc. I rarely refuse a chance to hunt pheasants etc. at a hunting club, but the wilderness hunts are my favorites. In 6 hours in grouse habitat, you might fire zero to twice with your 20 ga., but you and the dog will have a great outing anyway.
Hey - you're pointing on a White-Footed Mouse, silly dog!
Painting by John Grillo. We have met him on many occasions and have some of his pictures. Always wanted one of his big oils but too much $. No wall space anyway.Yes, Wellfleet had a secret ocean nude beach for the free-love bohemians, artists, architects, and Harvard intellectuals. Not easy to find. Not much nude there now.
She is predictable: Hates the US, hates whites including Jews, loves Palis. illegals, and loves all self-anointed victims, hates the New York Times (yeah). I doubt she ever met a roofer or a hunt dog trainer.
Photo is
The feathered revolution: 
The real cocktail of Bermuda:
Yes and no. Subject comes up because a pal alerted me to a litter of German Shorthairs, getting ready for the taking on Sept. 1. Their hunting pedigree is as good as it gets, so some $ is rightly involved since we aren't socialism yet where there are free champion hunting dogs.
