caught this guy last summer.

lookin' at stuff.

I went on a walk the other day. Here's what I saw.

a huge photo dump from the last snow of the season.

1. The black capped chickadee. This is the only bird that has figured out how to use the bird feeder. 2. Bluejay, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Cardinal. The RBW is shooting into the air like some kind of a rocket. Now I finally get why they call them Red Bellied Woodpeckers...I still don't think its a prominant enough feature to name the damn bird after.

3. (left)red winged blackbird and grackles. I've never enjoyed the noises these birds make. Especially the red winged blackbird. One summer I frequented a pond and the same RWBB would follow me, screaming the whole time, and scare all the frogs away.

4. Juncos in flight. Juncos have become my favorite bird. They are the first to the seeds in the morning and the last to leave the seeds at night. Plus, they are hoppers...very cute.

5. A pair of House Finches. This was a first sighting for me. The male was very cute, he hoped around and kept stretching his neck out like he was about to vomit. He has a nice, red face.

6. Cardinal, 2Brownheaded cowbirds, a robin and a hopping junco. The junco is at the top, told you they look cute when they jump.

right place...right time.

if it was a snake it would have bit me.

That's some damn fine camouflage you got on, moth. I applaud you and your evolution. It's just too bad your bug senses didn't tell you to line up your body with the grain of the wood. I think the cat probably ate you after she saw me take your photo. I'm sorry.

Have a happy Friday, folks. Much love.

a fever poem (it was 100)

Let's let
Spring and Fall
Become bouncing verbs
reserved for pogostick stomachs
on asphalt driveway.


Because that pretty robin
you watched fall from the sky,
well, I'm pretty sure
He was ready to die.


So don't sweat it.
Verbs happen.


And now all those
banjo croaking frogs
alive in the pond
can become our new
onomatopoeia


For a season that drops
fawns into the woods
of our backyard
and drops robins onto
a springtime altar


Made of mud and corn.

an old sketchbook.

Here's how I travel. I draw a lot. These are from 2005...long time gone, eh? Nostalgia made me post em'.

arkoo vs. possum. epic battle.

Don't let this possum's scary face frighten you. They're not very bright. They just look kind of scary.

Arkoo doesn't really notice stuff. He doesn't chase most animals. He doesn't care about cats or rabbits. He'll attack a shrew now and again but that's not very impressive. Mostly, he's pretty chill with other animals. He'll even deal with little jane pulling at his toe hair. Simply put, he is a good boy. A very good boy, which is why I was shocked when he took off across the lawn and TACKLED a possum. That thing must have rolled over three times after Arkoo knocked it over, kind of funny if I do say so myself. And a possum playing dead, well, they're not very good at playing dead. I was shocked. I always assumed that the possum stayed "dead" until it's attacker was well on their way to gone. Isn't that what possums are known for, playing dead? They suck at playing dead, they suck very badly at playing dead. As soon as Arkoo turned around the possum would stand up and try to walk off. When Arkoo sniffed at his newly awakened foe it just fell over and played dead...again. This happened six times, I shit you not. What a dummy. Possums are dummies. You can quote me on that.

spring is springing.

Spring came out of nowhere. It was winter, there was snow...now its almost spring and clovers are popping up in clusters and frogs are croaking at the pond. What the fuck? Snow everywhere three days ago. That was a rapid change, am i right? As an ode to the, rather abrupt, changing of the seasons I'm putting up one of my favorite winter bird photos...winner of the asshole contest, the Redheaded Woodpeckers stealing seeds from the other yard birds.

breathe in the weekend air and enjoy it.

Have a happy weekend. Stay outta trouble or get into lots of trouble, your choice. See you Monday.


love,

Jane and Porchcat.

routine and twins.

one twin.

The twins looking wary together.
the other twin.

I've started looking harder at stuff. A running theme throughout EVERYTHING seems to be routine. Everything is pretty predictable once you start taking mental notes about: who, what, where, when, why? Everyday I drive home, thats part of my routine. I always see two little deer about 4 miles from my exit. The twins (as I've come to call them) are in the same basic area everyday. Our routines are in sync and I know where to look for em' and I know the basic:

who : twin whitetail

what : chomping on grass

where : off the four lane on the South side

when : 5:30pm

why : they are hungry and like the grass by the side of the road.

Now, I can take advantage of their predictability. I've been wanting a nice deer photo but its hard to get one unless you know their schedules. Deer tend to eat, sleep, and do things at certain times...and all the photos I've gotten so far have been of white, fluffy, butts tearing ass away from me.

Not the twins though. They are not afraid of cars because they are always near them. I've seen other people stop and look at them. So...I took some pictures of my buddies. It was 5:30 on the dot and they were doing exactly what they've been doing since I started noticing them. Scratching and eating. Deer do that stuff pretty good.

awesome.

i don't know what to say about this rooster...I guess he has a nice outfit.

bald eagle. Dead Dog. a poem.

I never knew nothing bout' neither of you
one trotting
and sniffing
just looking for food.


Then headlights and screeching.
A loud Ka-Pow.
Then you, old black dog,
you became the dog chow.


I don't know too much bout' our proud nation's symbol
that flies through the skies and rests by the river.
I imagined them diving and catching their prey
then flapping
and flapping
before flying away.


I drove many miles before I seen what is real
Nature is cruel and a dog is a meal.


A sharp yellow beak on a big ol' white head
He stood on top of that dog, with his feathers gone red.
Just chomping
and munching
and picking away
I learned something new about eagles that day.


But I haven't gone soft, eagles still have appeal.
Roadkill for some, for others a meal.

my little art buddy.

Cocktails are intelligent little birds. And this is Little Jane. I didn't name her, Seth did.

Me and little Jane share a bunch of similar traits.

1. If we're by ourselves for too long we'll get destructive and loud.

2. We're very curious about what you are doing.

3. We're very loving if we love you.

5. We need a lot of stimuli almost all the damn time. Outgoing would be the word. But randomly shy. We're strange creatures.

With that being said, Little Jane may very well be my spirit animal. Whenever I sit down at my desk to bead a skull, make a drawing, write a letter, or paint she will come find me to see what I'm doing. She'll climb out of her cage, skuttle across the floor (its pretty amusing to watch her clumsily walk), climb up my pant leg, climb up on my back, and make her way to my sholder.

From there she'll watch me make colors. She likes orange...its in her genes to like orange, males have BRIGHT orange cheeks. Soon she'll get bored watching me paint and start playing her favorite game i've titled "drop and look"

DROP AND LOOK! (a history of the game and how the game is played)

It started off with those little puff balls, the craft ones. I had a pile on my desk for some reason, Little Jane saw those little puffy fuckers and fell in love. She cautiously walked up to a green puff, grabbed it with her beak, and chucked in ten feet. She watched intensly as it flew thru the air and landed. After the green puff landed she wanted more and grabbed a yellow puff and hucked that son of a bitch pretty damn far. She watched it soar and land on the ground. This game went on until all the puffs were gone. She made a pretty little puff ball design on the floor, in retrospect, I should have taken a picture of the puffs drops.

Now Little Jane has a game that's way more fun then Drop and Look with puff balls. She now plays drop and look with my paint brushes. It gets a little annoying when I'm looking for my fine tip brush and it isn't there...but its not too bad, the brush is usually on the ground and Little Jane is looking at the thing. She's my little art buddy. I love her. I know she needs the stimuli, its good stimuli for me too.

a male cardinal checking out a female red bellied woodpecker's tail feathers.

Have a happy Friday. Get some sun. Have some fun. See you on Monday.

Q: How metal is this little guy? A: So Metal. Look at that skull he has in his mouth. It reeks of cool. Q: Why is this cat so tired and relaxed? A: Her Catnip and cigarette diet isn't very nutritious.

a different kind of bird feeder.

To all of you who think I'm crazy for dragging that dead deer into my car and onto my property...i have a new birdfeeder for my nerd hobby. This is a female Downy Woodpecker, she is pecking at the bones of my spike deer (a.k.a dirty birdy feeder). Every morning I listen to her "tappa-tappa-tappa. tap tap tap" at the bones, it makes a hollow sound. She's very quick and zips around the bones like its her job. And I guess it is her job seeing as she's a woodpecker.

Its one of those "awwww, ewwwwww" relationships. I watch her tap out her morning ritual. "Awww," because Downy Woodpeckers are tiny balls of adorable. "Ewwwww," because she's pecking at a corpse. Why is she doing this? For the sweet, sweet sewet and for the little bits of nutrients stuck to the bones of deer. Circle of life, bitches. It ain't pretty. But its cool.

an afternoon drive.

1. This young cow is about to stand up. After a cow stands up it will stretch, release a gigantic fart, and then take a mega-dump. Don't stand behind a cow after it stands up after a nap. I had to learn this the hard way a few months back.

2. These are pig houses. I like that they are just triangles that sit on the ground. They look pretty cool.

3. Derrrrrrrr.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the screaming bullfrog.

*right after I took this video I dropped my camera in the lagoon. Bummer.