The Penguin Lessons

I rarely go out, but The Penguin Lessons at The Guild Cinema had the right blend of Old Yeller and To Sir With Love.  

The Archer

Some years ago Michelle and her brother Steve made a pilgrimage to the Blue Bunny factory in La Mars, Iowa. I got a cap.

The Release

The Draw

The Stomach

Good Day On The Market

Though I consider myself one of the luckiest in love, I was never able to make any money.

From Trader Joe's 

Lying here hour after hour, day after day, I realized I had all the time in the world to study. I lost $40,000 in the market crash of 2008. I was day-trading and doing okay, not great, but was trading with over $100,000 which, for me, was a significant amount.

The crash left me with a bit of an aversion, but at the start of the year things just looked too good. My curiosity wouldn't leave me alone; I blame the years of associating with cats.

Hoping to get rich, and soon too, I opened a Webull account with $1,500.00. Now, 3 1/2 months later, you can see the bottom line. It's kept me entertained.

Something changed last week. It had a similar feel to when years ago I suddenly realized I was an art dealer. It had taken three years of continuous study including a number of classes at the University in art history and art theory and a tremendous amount of networking and information gathering. But that day I stepped out onto my porch, straightened my tie, shot my cuffs and sauntered off to the gallery knowing I knew what I was doing. Or, at least I had a better idea of it than I'd had before.

A similar change occurred a few days ago with regard to the stock trading. It was subtle and had to do with the feeling that losing no longer felt inexorable. Up until then I'd approached each trade with a sense of dread....almost resignation. Nevermore.

I don't know what to attribute it to. I did stop eating red meat which did seem to reduce the incidence of twinges in my chest, but this is grander...it has to do with my identity. Instead of just being a dying lump on hospice, I'm now a source of income; there's the potential to do good things. I might start a foundation. But the main thing is I now have a sense of optimism; a feeling that things, rather than going down, could go either way. 

Today's trading, or rather "putting on the positions," as it's called, portends some positive results. I'm still in the kiddie pool in terms of numbers of shares. I don't have a lot of money to lose. But what we're looking at here includes the recovery of the $150 lost over the previous two weeks. I'm pleased. And it's only Tuesday; there're three more days of trading.

Concentrator

Process! It's like Bugental says...curiosity and process. 

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7680448513888634383/7885177733516665285

It's sort of like trying. I guess it was Yoda that popularized the "You no try! You DO!" As much as this may appeal to The Castaneda Crowd, it lacks appreciation of the things, the process involved, before one "does."

There's:

Hold my beer.

Have you ever done this before?

Is there a Plan B?

Is there an extra key for the handcuffs?

The main thing here is dying..the process of getting to dead.

There are markers along the way. The ever-increasing array of medications. Similar to guinea hens, there're concentrations at the dining table and bedside. They get moved around, regroup, then spread out again.

The hospital bed, with its silent workings.

Yesterday they installed the oxygen concentrator. It buzzes along kinda like a small plane with a half decent muffler. It came rolling up the front walk with an insouciance that belied its purpose. About the size of a smallish Labrador, it has a cuddly physiognomy and the water filter evokes sentiments of Christmas bubble lights. One can almost burst into a carol....Caaaaaaaaatt Oddddoorrrrrrr Reeeeevvvviiiiieewww..,.

The plastic cannula stinks of phenols, those petroleum-based units that determine plastics' flexibility. (Imma check for glass.)

Guylian

It's rare that I find a product worth mentioning. Thirty years ago we discovered these at our local Cost Plus store. Ten years ago they disappeared. And now, TODAY! they've been rediscovered! 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/GuyLian/page/6E6AB9B7-D855-4B28-9F33-C1A135BF5675?lp_asin=B004LDEYFE&ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_sf_stores_8N8HFF1D8BX7R0RKY4X0&store_ref=bl_ast_dp_brandLogo_sto

And *still* only $9.99!

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/F722E606-54AD-456B-8542-3E05DE3FEB86?ingress=2&visitId=4a14989d-be3c-47dc-8e3e-26da057a7562&store_ref=bl_ast_dp_brandLogo_sto&ref_=ast_bln

27.Apr.25 -- OOPS! 3 days later I went to order & the price has gone up $2.00. Thank you, President Trump, for those tariffs that're gonna replace income taxes.

Acrylic-Handled Bumbershoot

Susan, Michelle's mom, spent the late '30s and early '40s in New York & Paris where she wore couture. The clear acrylic horse-head handle of her umbrella still glows with the embers of those years.

A striking brunette, fully cognizent of her charms, she had over 40 pairs of shoes.

https://newmexnomad.blogspot.com/2014/03/susans-shooz.html?m=1

We celebrate spring with hyacinths. Their emergence signals the survival of -- yet another winter. We usually get a trio from Smith's. 

Tradition has, in our family, meant a deep delve into the erotic velveteen that affords sensual pleasures. But now the years have left us little more than soft purrings of whose cosiness we nestle amongst. Gone are the flickerings of the tongue that brought forth sweet ecstasies. 

We still decorate eggs.

Many happy returns!!!

Archery Salon

Back in the old days, we used to host salons every other week. We'd have about 10 to 12 folks over and usually it was a potluck. We often had a theme in which people got to demonstrate skills, talents, and other forms of entertainment. One noted scholar demonstrated his turkey call. Who would've guessed

Given my diminished energy and Michelle's loathing and hating of all things social,  we've discontinued the practice, but I needed some kind of social interaction. So I invited over Brett, his partner Victoria and his son Adrian, age 12, for some archery.

Brett got this great video of Victoria letting fly.

Aside from Victoria's exquisite form, the audio is interesting. Turn it up.

First Week of Morphine

I'm ambivalent about my dimensionality. On the one hand, I'm grateful that the body still works. I had a conversation with a friend the other day in which she told of someone who can no longer shit.

On the other hand, the view in the mirror is shocking. Another friend who saw me in the blog about getting on hospice said, "You don't look so good."

When I discovered that a friend and his son both enjoy swimming, I thought to use their enthusiasm to incentivize myself. The pool is in the nearby high school and has lap swim from 6 - 8 weekdays. The parking lot is big and I had to rest awhile once I got inside. 

The gratitude enables me to go forth in public, but just barely. Swim trunks are pushing it. But I keep in mind the two guys in Tucson who were nearly twice my size. They're still my role models.

I'd barely swim swam swummed 20 feet when the angina hit. I walked the rest of the way across and rested for ten minutes before heading back.

I had to ask Brett to bring me a sublingual nitroglycerin in order to muster the energy to get out. I still needed his help.

I spent the rest of the evening watching him and his son enjoy themselves.

It took four "rests" to get to the car. At home I had to take the morphine every two hours instead of every three. By morning I was starting to run low. At 11 a.m. I called the hospice nurse about getting more. A doctor has to authorize the prescription and it can be awhile before they become available.

IAC Contemporary Art

NY        Paris     Albuquerque

Around 6 o'clock this evening the hospice supervisor called to let me know they were doing all they could to encourage the Walgreens pharmacist to fill the prescription, but Plan B was to take me inpatient if they didn't get it done.

Michelle called a few minutes ago to let me know that the pharmacist said it would be ready in about 15 minutes. I've heard good things about the inpatient facility; there are 10 beds and the Supervisor said there're only about five people in it this evening. The background noise gave the impression she was at home. She sounded as relieved as I felt. 

Next time!

Putting A Stop To It

Prime Minister Carney came up with a plan to help the GOP think a little more about its actions.

https://www.adammockler.com/p/canada-silently-killed-trump-with?publication_id=3506104&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email-share&triggerShare=true&r=2c5x1i

Laundry Box Collage

As I wrote in the Youtube "Description," Albuquerque is a cultural wasteland; youse gotz tuh make yer own entertainmints.

Collage!

I needed a box to toss stuff into. Michelle has been making noises about collage and with a project like this, we could collaborate.

Several months ago we'd set up three card tables to work at so it was just a matter of finding the time. Then! There it was! Three whole days with no cat-sits! Given that our days begin around 11 a.m.-ish, it was truly an astounding accomplishment! And we took our time.

We work well together, donchewtink?

If The Insurrection Act is called into play

 

https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/04/what-to-do-if-the-insurrection-act-is-invoked/

Dr. Cali

Young fellow. Aware of the CIIS program for psychedelics.  Aware of their potential for reducing anxiety around death.

He was reassuring as far as pain management. Didn't push MAID. Said all they really have is morphine though. He acknowledged the drawback of it being befuddling. 

I described the subtle deterioration. He said it's par for the course; I'm on course...

with a faire breeze.

       and only a little flatulence. 🥸

           Beans, beans, the musical fruit...

34th Anniversary

 

We married in '93. Then, when I became aware I was going to have a heart attack, we made it legal in 2018. The only thing that changed was after 9 months she could inherit my social security.

https://newmexnomad.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-squidges-get-married.html?m=1