brucine (broo'-seen), 1) n. Pharm., Chem. a bitter, poisonous alkaloid, C23H26N2O4, obtained from the nux vomica tree; 2) n. Bruce Bortin's 'low-impact' weblog

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Adam & Buddha


Adam & Buddha, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

I visited Adam at school yesterday. He was just unpacking the pieces he'd sandcast the night befored; a series of tiles with a relief of the buddha on them.

Incidentally, Adam, thanks for the photoshop/custom brush tutorial.

Dork Accessory


Dork Accessory, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

I just got one of those rearview bike mirrors that clips onto your glasses.

I'm over half a century old, people. Isn't it amazing that I can keep on coming up with new ways to look like a dork?

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Happy Birthday, Cathy!





Video Birthday Card

Monday, October 24, 2005

Irresistibly Fudgy


Irresistibly Fudgy, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Adam models some product, shortly before the conversation turned to what a bother it is to actually bake things, and maybe it'd be better to just snort the brownie mix, thus producing, yes, nostril fudge!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Herb Butter


Herb Butter, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Let's go, girls!

Friday, October 21, 2005

Sutures Out


Sutures Out, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

I saw Dr Williams yesterday to get my stitches removed. I've got to say, I really like him. Really decent fellow, good touch with the knife & needle, comforting manner, very dry sense of humor. And my massive head wound is healing nicely.

I wonder what life without my hideous deformity is going to be like. I think that, in general, I'll be glad not to have the wierd protruberance. Always made me self-conscious, especially after haircuts. I have a hard enough time getting people to take me seriously in the first place. I don't think that their having to stare at a big cranial anomaly while in conversation with me was helping matters any.

It'll be interesting to see how my young nieces & nephew react. They were always fascinated by uncle Bruce's head lump.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005


A guy on BART was doing this trancy dance movement thing,
looked a little bit like tai chi. I videoed him doing it. Another guy
sitting behind me wanted to know if I thought it was right to do that
without my subject's permission.
I assured him that I'd talk to the guy.
We both got off at Berkeley, and I handed him my card.
  Business Card
On the escalator, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him
what that movement thing he was doing was. He told me that it
was an invasion to touch another person in public. I apologized,
asked him if he had been doing tai chi.
He told me that he practiced the art of silence..  
So no video today...
 ...or that's what I was thinking yesterday when I wrote the above,
right after the incident. I mean, hell, the guy should be able to
silently practice his movement without some fool showing up with
an inquisitive nature and a camera, shouldn't he?
 
Yeah.  Maybe.  On the other hand, maybe going into your act on
public transport isn't the best way to practice silence. Maybe having
a stranger initiate a conversation with you doesn't have to be taken
as an invasion.
 
So, fuck that shit.  Somebody does dance.  Great.

I do video.
Here's a video of a guy doing a movement thing that I found interesting on BART. Enjoy!

Federal Court Jury Assembly Room


If it had been an airplane, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Me & 55 fellow citizens sat in this room from 7:30am until 12:30pm yesterday. Then we were told to leave. Civic duty.

If it had been an airplane we'd all be in New York by now.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Stitches


Stitches, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Here's how my head looked yesterday. Seems to be mending nicely. But, eeew.

Thursday, October 13, 2005















See the Video



Long as I can remember, I'm having this lump on the side of me head. Yesterday, I am get rid of it. Dem coming at me cabeza with the knives yes.

Now me sore but happy. Me head flat now, very modern. I & I think that they maybe might take out me English Using Module. Not me care one bit, no.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Purple Ribbons and SUVs







IMG_2407, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Just about every vertical post in New Canaan right now has a purple satin ribbon wrapped around it, and an SUV parked in front of it. I have no idea what the purple ribbons signify.

Whoa, Nellie. Just looked it up. Here's the scoop. Apparently, the ribbons are for domestic violence awareness, there's 98 of them for the number of calls the New Canaan Domestic Violence Partnership received this past year. Do you suppose they chose purple because of its association with the color of bruised flesh?

The SUVs speak for themselves.






























...und so weiter. You can see the entire photoset at my flickr account. Here's a handy click-here.

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Deckless


Deckless, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Here's Jack & Ramona's back yard where the deck used to be.

Not so bad, eh?

Friday, October 07, 2005

Bob


Bob, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

"Bruce, I need to tell you this. You'll appreciate...see this place right over there? Well, my paper route used to be right along here. And across the street right over, big house there was a judge lived there. Now the paper was three cents a day, eighteen cents for a week. So every week, I'd, and this judge was rich, you know. But at the end of every week, right along here, oh he was a son of a gun!"

Carole


Carole, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

This woman doesn't have a mean bone in her body.

Cake


Cake, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Happy anniversary, Mary & Bruce!

Thanks, Bob & Carole!

"You know, Sweetie, I'd marry you all over again. If I had to."

Bob & Carole


Bob & Carole, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

...entertaining us and each other out behind their house in Western Massachusettes

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Little Red Car


Little Red Car, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

Zippy little car. Mary & I drove up to Waveny today. I was a driving fairy princess.

Ramona's sure going to miss this car.

Green Bench


Green Bench, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

On the porch in front of Jack & Ramona's place

Sunday, October 02, 2005

One Less Car


One Less Car, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

You know those stickers.... They say "One Less Car", and you sometimes see them wrapped around the horizontal tube of a bicycle, or stuck on somebody's messenger bag...

Well, bikes don't have bumpers, so maybe we shouldn't be stickering bikes. Cars have bumpers. Here's a "One Less Car" bumper sticker with a faint whiff of implied threat. Stick it to 'em.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Vat


Vat, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

At Rosenblum Winery, Alameda, CA. We tasted a few reds. I liked the second one, but after we'd (this was me & Mary & Tara & David out riding bikes) finished up at the winery, we pedalled on to St George Spirits and tasted a buttload of their infused Hangar 1 vodkas, so I can't remember anything that happened in that winery any too good.

Fluffy Web


Fluffy Web, originally uploaded by dumbeast.

A spider who built its web in some cattails. The fluff from the plants decorated his web. Huge mothern spider, by the way. Although it looked a little bit embarrased.

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