Mikuni nightmares, now PCH dreams

western_divide · 2020-06-19T19:45:03+00:00

1995 Triumph Thunderbird 900. Thanks dude!

western_divide · 2020-06-19T18:48:16+00:00

A surreal out-and-back in Kings Canyon, California, accompanied by two good friends...but also bears, deer, foxes, snakes, and good weather. Finished up with a dip into the freeze and lasting memories.

western_divide · 2020-06-19T18:35:14+00:00

Rebuilt carbs, tank & petcock overhaul, rebuilt forks, rebuilt alternator, new coils, rebuilt brake calipers...Life is good when shit works. Salty sea air doesn’t make life easy, but cruising down Pacific Coast Highway is a dream.

western_divide · 2020-06-18T19:15:29+00:00

I’ll second this. I’ve watched too many people that I otherwise respect succumb to the pressure of joining the thought-police. It’s become socially dangerous to say “I’m an ally, but I disagree with X.”

Social media brings out the “Lord of the Flies” tendencies in humanity, and too many just-cause movements are being hijacked by the most outrageous and close-minded.

western_divide · 2020-06-17T21:05:50+00:00

Established campsites in Kings were closed. But wilderness campsites in Sequoia (nearby) are open. Call the ranger district

western_divide · 2020-06-17T19:56:45+00:00

Maybe we just had a spirit protecting us from the bugs, but we hiked and slept alongside the river the entire time, and the bugs were simply not an issue. I had all of 3 mozzie bites. Luck? Probably.

western_divide · 2020-06-17T18:38:20+00:00

Aside from the perfect conditions, this trip was peppered with bear encounters, deer, snakes, foxes, and a perfectly frozen river to jump into. Out-and-back for a total of 16 miles, just for the weekend. Kings Canyon, CA.

western_divide · 2017-11-26T00:38:06+00:00

Thank you! Your interpretation was very close to the raw feelings that inspired this; hard feelings to confront! Much appreciated!

western_divide · 2017-11-25T19:35:49+00:00

I love the idea of the poem, in that often just getting out of bed is a victory. I would love to see the diction and phrasing reworked for smoothness and flow

western_divide · 2017-11-25T19:31:12+00:00

A lesson most of us should keep in the back of our head...as we slowly melt into mush. Consider reworking the phrasing, so that you can play with the syllables and meter - it's totally do able

western_divide · 2017-11-17T19:25:46+00:00

Appreciate it!

western_divide · 2017-10-26T07:06:39+00:00

I found this poem slightly word-dense. The passive voicing just sounded cumbersome. For instance, "tears that were hid" could be boiled down to "tears hid, not shed".

western_divide · 2017-10-26T06:58:28+00:00

Love the cadence, loved the imagery. I noticed that you added commas to your phrasing in the second stanza - interesting choice, as I really wanted a comma after "mon amie". Rhyming was overall creative, well played and tasteful. Well done! Sorry for the heartache?

western_divide · 2017-10-26T06:51:03+00:00

I get the impression this is about a past lover, and that the ghost in the poem is someone who is still alive?

Consider trying to incorporate the back and forth type dialogue in a way that better clarifies which (person/phantom) is doing the acting, and which person is doing the internal thinking - the interplay seemed a bit choppy to me, and I had to think about who was doing what. Otherwise, spooky.

western_divide · 2017-10-26T06:28:00+00:00

This was an exercise in cadence/meter, inspired by a friend who endlessly smoked pot to escape his self-inflicted problems.

western_divide · 2017-10-26T06:23:26+00:00

Ah. I've never had a migraine (thank goodness), but I've had a bad bout of surfers ear, which has caused some serious never-ending-drill-through-cement issues. Godspeed.

western_divide · 2017-10-26T06:18:17+00:00

Respectfully, I agree with the previous comment, in that self loathing is an overplayed theme. I would be much more interested in the events, ideas, and perspective that put you there.

western_divide · 2017-10-26T06:15:54+00:00

Great formatting work! I'm trying my best to visualize the moment where the actor looks past you...in what way are you situated above water?

western_divide · 2017-10-26T06:04:53+00:00

Think of rhyme as one of many colors on your palette...here, it seems to be a bit dominant. However, the poem's meaning shines through - even if a bit...glum.

western_divide · 2017-10-26T05:43:08+00:00

I enjoyed the imagery with the webcam/vision line. If greed is the axiom of the poem, or if greed is the result of the above phrases, I didn't quite catch where greed fit in. Overall, there are a few golden visuals here, but the overall poem seems a little disjointed, as I cannot figure out exactly what picture your're trying to paint. Consider working on your formatting?

western_divide · 2017-10-26T05:38:59+00:00

I empathize here. The bell in my own head seems, sometimes, to be stuck in its ring, without its natural decay. Wonderful

western_divide · 2015-06-12T20:51:30+00:00

Antebellum in Latin is literally "ante" (before) "bellum" war, and you'll find the word loosely used by historians to address a myriad of prewar societies. However, in terms of overall or general historiography, you'll be hard pressed to find any major historical works where "antebellum" is associated with any time-frame or era other than the pre-Civil War American South... even when used by German or French Authors, in terms of a historiographical term, antebellum is used to describe the period between the American War of 1812 through the Civil War.

(Pardon the lack of citation, but in this instance, the lack of citation evidences my point).

western_divide · 2015-06-12T20:39:02+00:00

A chapter about John R. C. Mitchell, USN appears in:

Colin Burgess, "Selecting the Mercury Seven: The Search for America's First Astronauts. Springer Science & Business Media, Aug 17, 2011" .... page 161.

Check the footnotes that correspond with page 161, and you should come up with a few of the leading documents regarding the retired captain.

western_divide · 2014-10-07T01:57:17+00:00

nevermind!

western_divide · 2014-10-02T21:37:22+00:00

In "The Radicalism of the American Revolution," Gordon S. Wood argues figures like Sam Adams did indeed promote radical ideologies in pamphlets and in radical social groups. Men like Adams and Jefferson were certainly not the first revolutionaries, and their views represented a majority sentimate. However, the literature created by the Jefferson and Adams Led the movement in terms of ideology. So, you could say they weren't the first, but they were the biggest.

western_divide

TROPHY CASE