I’m a dinosaur!
I’m a dinosaur too!
I’m going to eat your head!
Don’t eat my head!
Eat his head!
They looked at me.
“What did I do?”
You are a Monster!
Daddy is a Monster!
Let’s eat his head!
䷀䷫
hidden dragon
unmasked
little dragons
give chase
-
Four little T-Rex chicken arms flailed around the lunch table.
-
The turbulent Lego Sea gradually receded into a matte pink box.
The boy diligently cleared his playmat,
Long after sister and momma went upstairs.
He never cleans up.
What happened?
Momma had announced
Everything on that mat is going into the garage!
As she told me the story, he piped up.
我的耳朵没有瞎! (My ears aren’t blind!)䷗
wax and wane
eleven days
benefits -
pitter-patter, pitter-patter, THUMP!
What happened?
我喜欢打屁股.WHAT?!
我喜欢打屁股!
(I like to hit my butt!)
He did not escape mom’s angry lecture.
Don’t play on the stairs!䷒䷊
a lapdog no profit
a chicken no blame
beware shifty stairs -
They watched our neighbor install an inflatable Santa Jack Skellington pulled by Bonedeer led by Zero onto the roof of their garage.
He drew an oblong circle,
Added a couple eyes
And a toothy grin.
我画了一个 skeleton face.
(I drew a “skeleton face”)“Huh?”
He pointed at the chalk drawing on the wall.
我画了一个 skeleton face!
“你说那个是骷髅头?”
(Are you saying that is a skeleton head?)
对!
(Correct!)
“英文叫 skull.”
(In English, that’s a skull.)
我画了一个 skull.
He beamed a toothy grin.䷱䷆
a scorpion broke
off the tripod leg
bronze green canine -
± 100 Posts!
a novice reads the I Ching
How shall I consider 100 Posts?
63:3 to 3
Heading into our third weekend together, this will be my 100th post. (Technically I hit it earlier, but I deleted a few stray Posts along the way.)
I pick up — and drop — hobbies with alacrity. I wish I weren’t so fickle, but I’m not the only one. There are many conflicting pulls on our time. Doing one means diminishing another, so I cycle through my recreations.
Over the past two decade, we’ve seen social media platforms rise and fall. Glittering potential dissolving into pernicious squabbling. A brilliant dawn fades into tragedy.
Will this be an apex or a milestone? I don’t know. If it’s near the top, then early gratitude for these magical 16 days. If the latter, then I look forward to many more Posts together.
~
63. After Completion 既濟
䷾ (water over fire)Success in small matters. Good fortune in at the beginning. But things might end in chaos. Equilibrium on a knife’s edge, calamitous disorder on both sides. Water over fire, steam gives power but fraught with danger. With the wrong attitude completion leads to decay. Practice constancy.
Changing Line 3
(yang becomes yin)Conquer demon territory. Establish a bastion in the borderlands. It will take capable leadership and persistence. Three years. A bold initiative will become a protracted campaign. Employ people of character. The work will exact a brutal toll. A petty man will lose it all.
3. Difficulty at the Beginning 屯
䷂ (water over quake)Life grows through the abyss. Great potential is attainable with good character. Be adaptable and dynamic, as clouds and thunder. Birth is a treacherous moment. Associate with noble people.
~
Good start, don’t get cocky.
Victory is attainable at great cost.
Shape order from chaos with good company. -
Mama was not amused that we indulged his conflation of “tofu” with “potato” to create a little lunch ditty.
Tofu 豆腐 Dòufu
Potato 土豆 Tǔdòu
Potato (Pəˈtādō)
Tomato (Təˈmādō)Dòufu
Tǔdòu!
Pəˈtādō
Təˈmādō!Dòufu
Tǔdòu!
Pəˈtādō
Təˈmādō!䷙䷈
dou — dou — dō — dō!
-
Stephen Brian, 2022
He was one of the first folks to play with us,
On our first visit to Friday Night Game Night,
(Jim and Troung’s place.)He was a little geeky — me too!
(Two dudes playing board games every week)
I best remember his aura of kindness.My days in Houston ended in 2013,
Never got around to that 3P game of Konig von Siam.
(He liked heavier games, I’m into lighter games.)Just found out he passed away this year.
We’ll get that play one day,
(Between rounds of of Tichu)
On that next plane.䷤䷂
sincerity
arrayed like a king
good fortune in the end -
Sister disappeared into the kitchen closet while [Redacted] was washing his hands.
Are you in the Dawg Place?
No, I’m in the Pantry Place!
That’s the Dawg Place!
It’s called: the Pantry Place.
哪个狗地方在哪里? (Where is this dog place?)No, it’s the Dark Place!
䷤䷁
straight square coffer
filly canine nocturne -
The long plastic sinew metamorphosed into a chain, a sill, and a header.
They grabbed the red jump rope,
Dragged each other across the tile floor.
She had us pull it taut,
Leapt over it, head first towards the corner of our dining table.
We held it high,
Limbo’ed underneath the glossy line.
Ohh! My back!䷥䷐
the hog bear the paint
a car carrying ghosts
hamster on a clavichord -
The dinner jousted over the undulating dearth and glut of technology.
They took the iPad during our zoom call,
And hid under a pair of blankets,
To squirm, laugh, giggle, squawk, fidget, and squeal.
They insisted I join the call on my iPhone,
To transmit this fuzzy, pulsing grey blob to the family.
“At your age, grandpa got our first video camera, much less eight.”䷻
She wants her own phone, like her friends.
“You don’t need a phone, just use my my number.”
“When I was a boy, we only had one phone in the whole house.”
“Mommy shared a phone at the apartment headquarters.”
“How come you old people always talk about the past?”䷼
bitter festival
pigs and fishes
an ocean of bits
wooden boat