THE HOOKED RUG IN THE KITCHEN

Rick the Canadian Tribute Zombie

Rick was so exquisitely beautiful before his infatuation with "tattoo"......now he has a disguise to insulate him from lookers who wanted him for his physical perfection......a full-body mask, I think......and a sinister one. My Uncle Charlie has bluebirds tattooed on his bosom, but they're really sweet and naive....... I wonder what Rick will look like in 40 years!
Songs from the Second World by Jesse Manno

DOGS PLAYING POKER

In grade school I learned to play Samba with my cousins and my Grandmother and her sisters and friends.....In jr. high school I learned to play bridge with my Grandmother and her sisters and friends, my parents and with Bridge Lessons at the Big Springs Community Center, where I also learned to Square Dance for our bi-centennial celebration in 1955. Poker was frowned upon as a "low class" activity and was associated with crime, drunkeness and smoke-filled rooms in darkened men's clubs. Poker was associated with "gambling" and illicit activities. However, oddly enough, my Grandfather had a calender that featured dogs playing poker illustrations, by C.M. Coolidge, for each month. As a child, I thought the illustrations were really funny, as were the far more sophisticated illustrations of "Alice", of dogs waiting to pee on a fire hydrant...one of which adorned one of our bathroom walls back in the '50's. My tastes, as I get older, seem to be moving toward both extremes of taste....the aesthetic and the ticky-tacky. I find great pleasure in this silly stuff, whereas...in my twenties.....I was dismissively critical......Really.....who cares? Cyndi Lauper had it right......have some fun.....Art is not sacred.....cover your furniture with upholstered vinyl and get out and have a good time!