What are chores?

Noun 1. chore - a specific piece of work required to be done as a duty or for a specific fee; "estimates of the city's loss on that job ranged as high as a million dollars"; "the job of repairing the engine took several hours"; "the endless task of classifying the samples"; "the farmer's morning chores"
job, task
duty - work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons; "the duties of the job"
ball-breaker, ball-buster - a job or situation that is demanding and arduous and punishing; "Vietnam was a ball-breaker"
stint - an individual's prescribed share of work; "her stint as a lifeguard exhausted her"
scut work, shitwork - trivial, unrewarding, tedious, dirty, and disagreeable chores; "the hospital hired him to do scut work"

I found this set of definitions online to describe the process or description of the things that simply have to happen around our house – for all of us, to live in some semblance of order. And by order – that includes mental health – sanity, most notably – as if you haven’t noticed - mine. Do I over react to things that really, in the grand scheme of things – don’t matter all that much? Yes I do, admittedly so. I apologize for that – I’m not sure what else to say. Should I be able to brush things off and move forward onto more or other issues that are more significant in the profound realm of life. Yes – and I’m desperately, well at times, generally I’m working on that path. But really the question is what are those things and well – they are going to be different for all of us.

So I’ve decided to break down the tasks that need to be done by you – you, young adults, you - in an order or organization that: 1) I believe you are intelligent enough to understand; 2) helps fulfill the obligations and basic needs you can/you should by now/and you will (so help me elvis) perform on a regular basis around our home.

Obligations – these tasks have to be done. The dogs have to be walked – the reasons I think have become quite clear in the last few days. You guys lobbied really hard for a puppy, we got one, he’s super super cool – and now it frickin’ cold out and he still has to be walked. But listen, clearly, both of them dogs – when - one of them goes out – the other dog goes out. So help me elvis - if I hear either one of you bitch about the other – and who walks who, when, blah, blah, blah, ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_-858AdxFE ) I will blow my already very loosely and tentatively clamped skull structure. Just take the dogs out. Please, no not even please. Take them out as prescribed below.

Exercise or training is quite a different matter and the only exception to this rule. Basic needs – clean laundry – being aware that there is laundry in your bathroom/laundry area that could be folded, washed, I don’t know - perhaps even just observed is a huge leap forward.

Your bedrooms
Floor visibility – your floors, chairs, desks, ledges should be free from dirty clothes (see also laundry); discarded clean clothes (you might decide that just wearing something once, or even changing your mind about what you are going to wear, or even using a towel more one time merits another blessed opportunity for that specific object – hence it is to be majestically and gracefully lifted off the floor and consciously situated such - so that it may potentially be re-used again before laundering would otherwise become necessary); games/toys; books; debris; random shit.

Glasses, bowls, dishes – after you use these transport vessels of sustenance, bring them the fire truck back downstairs, in a prompt fashion (let’s clearly define this as within 12 hours - maximum) and place them directly in the dishwasher (that trap door metal thing) so that they may be cleaned and used again by others.

Laundry – do not throw clothes into any laundry that are not: 1) right side out, 2) are folded or lay inside another piece of clothing,

If you throw something that might be considered offensive or may after a short duration stink – throw it in a plastic bag lined container and bring it to a location where no one else will be effected by such treats.

If a creature should have an accident – what are the procedures that you follow to clean up after them? Hint: it involves hands and knees and physical excursion otherwise known as scrubbing.

Noun 1. scrubbing - the act of cleaning a surface by rubbing it with a brush and soap and water
scouring, scrub
cleaning, cleansing, cleanup - the act of making something clean; "he gave his shoes a good cleaning"
mopping, swabbing - cleaning with a mop; "he gave it a good mopping"
Why is this image so relevant? Please note the body position and the glorious facial expression – one you should be vastly familiar with, particularly in my prescience…

Dog training. It is your mother and my responsibility to facilitate adequate training for the dogs. To this extent and particularly with Strykr we have behavioral issues that exceed our abilities as ‘trainers’ and that will require that we bring in someone outside of the four of us to help assist with our young pup’s being.
That being said – we will establish a timely walk schedule. And by timely – I mean regular – as in every two hours during the evening – whether he/they need(s) it or not. We have to establish regularity – from walking techniques, schedules, training techniques – al of it. This weekend was unacceptable. So our evenings are initiated by you guys arriving at home around 4 pm. If the dogs are home then we’ll proceed with a walk right then at 4 pm - and then follow every two hours until 10 pm. So – just to be clear - that means 4, 6, 8, 10pm.

Kitchen:
Dirty or used dishes loaded directly into dishwasher
Large pots/pans washed with soap and warm water, inside & outside.

Understand and appreciate that beata is an elvis send. We have brought her into our house to help assist and organize our lives (yes, we (your mom and i) get to have these (lives) too. Please understand that not everything which exists in our realm or is done in our realm - is solely for your benefit. Note that you should on more than one occasion sit back and be grateful for everything you have, knowing that you are loved (un)conditionally (that varies between your mother and me.) She’s much better at the ‘un’ aspects – I try and well – I try and will continue to try and I will try harder. and yours.

i think we should all http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsVLIiI8Vfo
or perhaps if we were nicer to our fellow humans - perhaps a little less
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0c8Q6doiJI (personal favorite)
and this just rocks...

RIP mr. reed... and many thanks

h is studying for two exams. i am keeping her company, for as long as i can, by amusing myself in prose. a few days ago i realized i could no longer get the completely fake yet somehow deliciously satisfying chocolate dipped ice cream cone at 'mcd's'. no, i don't want to know how they are made. i am saddened by this loss, but am slowly coming to grips with it. besides egg white mcmuffins with one side of the english mcmuff removed, i find there is simply no other reason to go 'mcd's'. tonight after circling for parking for 30 minutes outside our humble abode i decided to go to the nearest 'mcd's' to acquire a treat to relieve what had become my fully vested parking induced aggravational mind frame. knowing full well that when i returned to our simple but quite hip happening and popular street the parking gods would provide me, fully satiated with an artificially orchestrated soft serve ice cream sans chocolate dip cone, with a space adequate to park 'the beast.' i had summoned the courage to question the highly cultured cashier at 'mcd's' and had asked as calmly as possible - 'why, why no more 170 calorie totally fake chocolate dipped ice cream cones?'. 'seasonal' - i was told. damn - go figure, but the good news - they'll be back next year. i ate that sucker as i drove home and i sashayed the beast into a space a block and a bit away from our dwelling and darn near walked off those 170 fake calories.
tomorrow i plan on asking starbucks why they stopped selling blueberry and strawberry yogurt - now they only have greek with honey. i mean i'm greek, but greek yogurt sucks. i would much rather plan on being part chocolate someday.

who was lamenting the (under)abundance of posts here on the new xanga 2.0... and i got to thinking about the posts we're currently assembling for some ipe and steel planters (pics pending further progress). and then i got to thinking about the posts i need to put in the ground to finish the fence on our house - that i started - well, actually before fences were even invented... and then i got to thinking that i have been spending some time at ancestory (that i most liekly would have spent on xanga) but to be honest - i'm finding it a bit difficult to navigate this new xanga. and now i'm thinking about a sip of cheerwine soda pop. hold on...

umm... yummilicious. it's a southern thing. i brought back three cases from nc this summer - and well - we tapped them out. i had to put a one a day limit on my son... only to find about a case of empties stashed in the closet of his room... so needless to say i done ordered three more cases and had them shipped. i paid about 125% more for shipping than the pop... but - what can one do - vices...

so tunes - i'm listening to 'peggy sue' by buddy holly at the moment. guitar solo - swig of yummilicious cheerwine. ahhh... well i'm going to go back to work - feeling invigored that godfather will have perhaps one new post to consider this fine evening.

it's officially been  - well the whole notion of official is ultimately subjective.  perhaps even perspective.  i've tried to avoid the drama of this whole xanga thing.  i found it disturbing and not exactly forthcoming.  but nothing in life is - so we move on.  i just was thinking about my kids.  i think i have one kid and one character.  i say this after i just cleaned the secondary tank for one of my kids turtle tank.  it's a long story.  and i have to type just a little bit today - so i don't hurt myself.  you know that slow subtle gradual re-entry thing some of us humans are wont to do.  i figure it's also a way to keep me on track - to keep me from circumambulating.  'the secret life of walter mitty' is about to be released.  it's always been one of my favorites - and as i grow older i get it even more.  so i haven't been around much. i've checked in here and there.  but traveled lightly.  i do appreciate the xanga community - i think that's why i'm typing here now.  perhaps i need some release as well.  i should probably post a few tunes - lest we all fall asleep. 

hooray for silliness...

16 years old?

 they're backkk....  already...

ok that's it.  my fingers are sore from these keys...

some people may choose to ignore these - i choose to celebrate...

My name is Binta, i read about you in this site and i decide to contact you for
friendship hopeing that you will accept my request,if you
accept my request ,please reply to my email address
(bintaweah59@live.com) or send me your email so that i
will send you my photo and more about me, i believe we
can make good friends,let distance not be a barrier but
lets love connect,because love is a bridge connect far

distance to be close
from
Binta

it’s a rather simple - yet highly intriguing word.  (until I had nearly completed this I hadn’t bothered to look at the etymology of the word – and then realized it’s, perhaps implicitly - a feminine name…  interesting) it’s extremely short and compact – but utterly profound in its implications.  i mean – how often does one find ‘joy’ in today’s world.  think about that for a moment – for me - i think simpler times might have more often allowed for this notion of smiling, upturned lips, slightly opened and an allowance for rather easy breathing and almost a lighthearted and lightheaded approach to one’s current plight or even existence.  a description of a state of being – really an escape from the most moderate or even mundane what would be the middle position, neutral even, or baseline of human existence.  one where we’re not happy or sad – we’re just in a state of existence and then a memory or event or stimuli occurs and we’re brought from ‘nothing’ to ‘something’. 

a higher state or awareness of pleasure for most, it’s generally perceived as a good thing, in fact almost an excellent thing – except for the darkest most abused, most perverted – perhaps the idea of evil.  quite frankly – that’s a repulsive thought – but, well, i think it exists and we’ll acknowledge it and move on.  i prefer the idea of a ‘happy’ thought – a happy place of existence for the many, over the most regrettably dark and hopefully, isolated few.

there are these two letters that hang tantalizingly beside and below an ‘o’.  and what’s an ‘o’ to do?  some would identify the ‘o’ as the circle of life – no beginning, no end; the ideal, perfect form…  and then these two - teases – these two almost deviant and cajoling forms – sirens of sorts – calling out to their shared neighbor – ‘come out and play dear fellow’ – well not fellows.  the ‘o’ isn’t masculine, rather it indicates a place for safekeeping, a depository of sorts, an invitation for engagement…  and the ‘j’ – it does hang below – but it does appear to ‘turn its back’ to ‘o’ and certainly is perhaps repulsed by its once removed neighbor ‘y’ where it might flee or attempt to remove itself from.  whereas ‘y’ hangs it all out there and lures ‘o’ with a cradle of sorts - a saddle or a swing to rest and caress, to hold near and dear and perhaps  banters or even teases his once removed neighbor ‘j’.  perhaps we were first given ‘jy’ and ‘o’ felt the need to separate them – to act as a referee of sorts, to drop in between and perhaps part or maybe even inadvertently became the link that joined and made them a more perfect and current whole.

the root of all this, this perversion of sorts, stemmed from lying in bed earlier this am that time when you awaken in the seemingly safety of your bed and yet outside - the world is still without much light and is mostly lifeless.  for me, my spouse was still sleeping soundly and lost in the universe of limitless potentiality.  yet there i was in that point in time when there are still elements of darkness lurking potentially in the shadows of both the inner mind and physical being and it was my mind that sought or more appropriately wandered toward a gnawing gravitational field - a field with undeterminable outcomes; paths; journeys; realities and dread.

and i was considering the plight of my eleven year old son – and the idea of ‘joy’.  and what i’m hoping now as i type and formulate this before myself (and actually in consideration of a potential reader) - is the idea that this notion of joy – never leaves him.  that somehow as a parent, that i, and along with my spouse – although she’s considerably more adept at perceiving and creating and cajoling this conceptual notion into a reality – instill, develop and invigorate this potential within him.  And it should be far more potent than latent.  and i know that’s easier said than done – but it is now more clearly identified in my mind. 

i hope, as there should be – that there is still a vastly deep and replenishable reservoir of joy in his.

damn - this kat has got it goin' on...  i can imagine @leaflesstree listenin' to this on LOUD...

these guys are playin' lollapalooza - and i've posted some of their tunes before...

brand new brmc... cover tune - but check out release date & number of views...  fresh off the press baby!!!

 not sure the origins of this band yet - but i like the sound - lyrics, kinda ethereal guitar...

and some newer to me...

so this last kat - i started with a british lad and am finishing with one...  i've been watching the fx series - 'the americans' (it's pretty damn good, really good actually) - and well this is the soul sound from that time (and some before) - but he nails it...  enjoy this one xanga folk...

listen loud - listen often - listen for your soul - like it's no one elses!

never get involved in a war that ends in ‘s’ – they never turn out well.  there have been two world wars – a lot of people dead, gone, disfigured and a lot of destruction. 

our current international plight puts us in a divided state - over two koreas…

grammar?

think about it – who gets hurt in a grammatical war?  nobody – i mean who really cares where an apostrophe goes or doesn’t.  twain didn’t; faulkner didn’t; snoop dogg sure as hell doesn’t.  and who needs apostrophes more than these guys?  Their lives were/are defined by apostrophes.  clinton – ‘sexual relations’ – ended in an ‘s’ didn’t it…  some soupy splurge on synthetic materials – cigars where involved….

it’s all very evil – ending in ‘s’ – necessary?  perhaps?  blow jobs…  peanut butter and jelly sandwiches – sticky messes…

finances

cha-ching – yeah – all fucking knock down drag out sorts of ongoings.  ‘S’ – it’s even part of the symbol that represents this notion, this value – a giant ‘s’ with a vertical line or even two through it.  it’s only stating the obvious – battle lines drawn.

babies

there’s a war – an all out assault on the human psyche that no one wants a part of.  families that have them have fights – who’s going to take care of?  help clean?   feed?  clothe?  educate?  talk to about who masturbates?  take to the ball game?  the prom?  people that don’t have them and want them have fights over them;  people who think they have the right to force anyone who has ever been pregnant to have that baby – hell - they kill people to secure that ‘right.’  now of course once they are born – tough, life’s tough and we humans always seem to get it right don’t we.  and that’s a fundamental definition of war.  no babies, love them or leave them - lead to wars that end in ‘s’.  marriages.  divorces.  more often than not no one wins. 

and suddenly she didn’t want to play footsies any more.

isn't a name many people recognize.  i was incredibly fortunate to have been awarded a fellowship and i spent a summer as an intern working on a project that mr. soleri had made his life work.  he believed that a better architecture existed.  that a better means of existing with our environment was necessary to sustain the future of humanity.  in his vision 'arcology' was the solution - the combination of architecture and ecology.  mr. soleri passed today, at 93 - in fact on the very same date that his 'mentor' and 'hero' - frank lloyd wright died.  april 9th.  ironic - mr. soleri was far from the egomaniac and pompous ass than mr. wright was - he was quite, shed the limelight and it was a pleasure to have known, talked, laughed and sweated for this man.  

mr. soleri founded cosanti and arcosanti - two structures, events - even that will define his legacy.  he believed that the form of the city needed to be more resolutely integrated into the earth, our earth - and that man and his built environment should reflect this ideology. that our cities needed to be self-reliant - grow our own foods, employ our own people; be heated and cooled by the earth...

here's the wikipedia link:    and some others as well:

all my images from my summer spent at arcosanti are on slides - at some point i hope i can move them to a digital format.  it was one of the most wonderful summers of my life.  the other interns that summer - we never kept in touch, but we traveled extensively throughout the southwest on our weekends - the grand canyon; the prescott bluegrass festival; glen canyon damn; montazuma's castle...  we spent the night camping on a debris littered road - thinking we were going to wright's talesin west when we awoke...  however the cops at 2:30 am weren't particularly amused to find us sleeping in a dump that was more notorious for nefarious ongoings than what we would have ever anticipated.  ultimately they believed our plight and let us remain until daybreak - but then made it clear not to return - i remember we were all good with that. talesin west was a let down when compared with what we were experiencing at arcosanti.  there was a vibrancy, a pulse - ayn rand (one of my least favorite authors) wouldn't have understood.  we were all just happy to do - something - there was no ego in our mission, no hero worship, no pettiness.  

bronze and ceramic bells were being made; bread baked; an amphitheater being built.  trust me - it kicked my ass.  we worked from 5:30-7:30 - had a 1/2 hour or so for breakfast and a meeting and then back to jack hammers and cement mixers.  my supervisor was rocco lombardi. he is forever etched in my mind.  a 55 year old mason off the boat from italy - he used to ask me everyday, several times a day - 'why when i come to america, everything motha-fucka?  motha-fucka this...  motha fucka that?!?  everything motha-fucka?'  i just smiled, probably foolishly and mixed the mortar and moved his shaded work area...  it was so damn hot.  the rock in that part of the country is volcanic and someone had broken the bucket on the backhoe so we had to haul all of our debris up - and out of the amphitheater by hand.  and all the mortar and concrete we'd mix and load into 5 gallon buckets and haul into our hole.  you'd cut your hands loading, run your leg against a rock and rip open your shin or thigh...  good times.  but i loved it.  i was sun drenched and ripped after that stint... 

i read most of the 'dune' & ' hobbit' series' at night - after eating dinner and showering and some tired conversation i'd shake out my sleeping bag to make sure there weren;t scorpions or tarantula's in it...  and just read.  let my mind escape into the world of frank herbert and the pure genius of jrr tolkien.  i guess most people read that stuff in high school - i was too busy doing elvis knows what - so i had some catching up and it was wonderful. 

i did have a love interest that summer - some chick named erin something...  didn't work out - she had a boyfriend and had already been busted cheating on him once - so i guess i wasn't good enough to make it number 2...  no loss... 

there's been some blogs a bit back about this stuff - the best times of our lives - and i've been kicking it around in my head - and well rip mr. soleri - and thanks - thanks for having had an impact on my life.  i'm proud to say i knew you.