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
-
pitter-patter, pitter-patter, THUMP!
-
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 -
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!
-
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 -
The desert dreamt water in every corner.
The backyard became the ocean.
The rocks were the water.
The patio was a boat.
The boat had a Sea Shop.
The Sea Shop sold snorkels, seaweed, sugar, salt, oil, and fish.
We fished,
We swam,
We snorkeled,
I sharked,
but couldn’t catch anyone.䷮
press the water beneath the lake
a spectral aquarium floats on the sand
-
Accompany gold, become like gold; accompany jade, become like jade.
挨金似金,挨玉似玉
You are influenced by the company you keep. Choose wisely.
~
In testing paid Posts, a novice asks the I Ching:
How should we approach creating paid Posts?
A few years ago I learned how to read the I Ching, but I haven’t practiced regularly.
This is the first serious reading (using yarrow stalks) that I’ve done in 2022.
Caveat emptor. The wise may caveat skedaddle.
~
Answer (3:1,2,3 to 48)
opening response
䷂
(3) 屯 A Rough Start
Be careful at the beginning. Every new endeavor takes significant effort to succeed. That first step is fraught with peril.
Changing Line 2
Horses pull in opposite directions. Given conflicting obligations, this work will be difficult. The maiden waits ten years. It would be prudent to wait. Avoid unnecessary obligations at this moment. There will be a right time to commit.
~
which results in
䷯
(48) 井 The Well
The Well is a source of nourishment. However a broken jug would be a source of misfortune. If you are not ready, such efforts will harm those you are trying to guide. Cultivate yourself first.
~
Hopefully this was worth a penny. I’d love to hear some feedback on this experiment.
Thanks for reading!
Justus
-
The third person was in the air, so the boy became his own character.
He ride a bike on the trail.
On a slight incline, I tap him on the back.
“加油!” (press on!)
He pedals for thirty yards before slowing down.
My mom chats while we watch them.
I try a pull-up at the play structure.
One here; one there; shift my grip for one more.
A jolt shoots through my right bicep.
A net connects two platforms, she grabs a railing and crosses the divide.
He stands on one side.
“勇敢, 我在看着你” (be brave, I’m watching you)
“不是! Silver Star 不要走过 wires!” (nope! Silver Star doesn’t walk on wires!)䷗
thunder in the ground
the first king went to seclusion
in seven days Silver Star rose from the west
-
He developed a new syntax by discovering the alphabet.
妈妈 (mommy) = “M-A-M-A”
shortened to “M-A”
poopoo = “P-O-P-O”
became to “两个P-O”
peepee = “P-P”
lengthened to “两个P”䷨䷍
a lake below the mountain
fire in the sky
elements re-combine
with the times