change

wishes one will,
as often as not,
consider an excuse
for shirking —
the New year's
journey to change

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'walkabout.'

Thank you to all who have visited my blog this year - each "view" is important to me - and an extra special bow of gratitude to those of you who leave comments!

Wishing you all a blessed and happy 2012!

raw

life is Raw poetry,
piping hot

Now
is the opening

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'olio.'

My fellow crossword puzzle fans have seen that one a thousand times.

hope

one percent paper
ninety-nine percent hope —
new sketchbook

. . . . . . . .

The unused OED word of the day is 'tankini.' Its etymology just too brief :) to use -- though the psychorolutes might like one.

To compensate, the collage IS made up of the images, if not the words, of today's Seattle Times.

get (it)

get (it) 

Totally Unofficial
Hype,
fired up Vibe 

right,
got it

style is mixed
with the energy of the Observer 

an irresistible-hued hook is a no-brainer

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is 'crunk.' The first citation is from a 1995 rap music dictionary. Enuf said.

be yourself!

be yourself!

I'm willing
to think that
you are to enjoy,
without
having to
pay dearly for it

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem  | commentary is 'dog in the manger.'

creativity

creativity and faith --
the Essence
of hope and
deliberate Living

. . . . . . . .

The slackers at OED have made "Kwanzaa" the word of the day, just as they did on 12/26/10. I've been doing this for nearly 800 days now, and it's the first repeat!

Speaking of reruns, the yarn 'sweaters' are back around the Pioneer Square area, some in Seahawks colors, some in holiday green, red and white. They make the 'Do not walk' icons suddenly lool like red mittens to me.

joy

express joy
and Make merry,
I pray you all

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'Nowell."

Merry Christmas to all!

a path

I made it through the winter
walked a path
the easiest I found
A groove so smooth that
Sunlight could wait

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'runway.' 

Best wishes to all who find themselves on runways or in waiting rooms today!

broad back

art has a broad back
to bear any Choice

In a crowd
you are a Slave
you get more careful

forget your sighs now
for heaven's sake and
be observant

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem| commentary is "P's and Q's."

Peggy and I minded ours, while sketching the largest (35') Christmas tree of any hotel in Seattle at the Fairmont Olympic.

scraping ice

winter solstice —
scraping ice off the windshield
at 11am

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day was 'owie.' Winter darkness feels like one long owie that we wish Mommy could kiss.

winter solstice

winter solstice —
the tunnel
if not its end light 
now visible

. . . . . . .

The unused OED word of the day is 'psychrolute.' That would be someone who bathes outside regularly throughout the winter. Let's just shorten it to 'psycho' and be done with it.

treat

a rare Treat -
my woods  
& everything that
grows green in winter

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure haiku is 'greenhew.'

nimbose

tempestuous Night
Distilling dew
under a Harvest of Stars

. . . . . . .

The Oxford lads continue in a very London/Seattle climatic frame of mind. The OED word of the day for the erasure haiku is 'nimbose' (cloudy, stormy)

in a dream

Pictures in a dream
disappear in a flash
lacking the full colors
The moon made visible

Then life! and its Wild Road,
Neon signs in the fog,
inviting sweet Secrets
where change is a spring
to Beauty

your bridge from reality to dream in the morning sun

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'rainbow,' so rich in citations that Google Mail cut it off at 6000 words!

a page from an old volume

full of clouds,
The wind
is a Page from 
an Old Volume of Life

But let us sit awhile /

The moonlight victoriously breaks forth

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is  another Seattle-friendly one: 'nubiferous.'

Found myself out for coffee with no blank paper, so a Christmas shopping ad was the substitute

drizzling

Up at seven o'clock
to Another
drizzling day!

melancholy December

. . . . . .  .

The OED word of the day for the erasure haiku is 'mizzling.' This is one of only a handful of times where the image is illustrative of the WOTD.

To my surprise, the word 'mizzle' was used nearly 200 years earlier than 'drizzle,' dating back  to the end of the 15th century.

Except in Seattle, where it was the first written word at the beginning of time :)

journey

Art / Life 
a journey undertaken
with the intention
to seek
a wider 
Perspective  

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'climate.'

evening stars

evening stars
sometimes
hid by lights
still unexplored
gleaming
pale on the horizon

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'southern lights.'

patience

everyone must live
as they do

so Patience,
there's no use
living and fighting
with the many different ways
of reaching the same goal

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'Rome.' I was interested to read that the expression "Rome wasn't built in a day," dates back to 1545 and the "When in Rome..." proverb goes back to the 15th century.

the possible

a Painting
would seem
to prove
the possible
will somehow
succeed

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'autochthon,' which in my mind proves that 16th century speakers of Middle French should have left Plutarch alone.


The erasure I really preferred from the citations was simply: "some suppose men to be Intelligent Mushrooms."

divine necessity

I am
very apt
to believe
in a divine
necessity …
a Walk sneers
at December

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'ad absurdum.'

wild

wild last night

all over
But I can record
another classic

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day is 'radge' and the classic was a total lunar eclipse.

open doors

talent can achieve success
though You can come a long way if you
open doors,
just By beginning

. . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'mouseburger.'

on the edge

the Shortest Way
to end A pattern
of gloom is
Love
wavering
on the edge of infinity

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'world's end.'

still shorter

early December —
really? the days can get
even shorter than this?

. . . . . . .

For the record, the OED word of the day is 'mawashi,' the sumo wrestler's silk loincloth. Just not enough 'fabric' there for an erasure poem!

kindred spirits

those who care
share out-of-proportion affection
for truly kindred spirits
desperate enough to take part

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'Z-list.' 

I didn't know lists went lower than comedienne Kathy Griffin's "D-List" status. Some quite amusing citations, though I particularly enjoyed The Guardian's reference to Z-list architects who designed the individual blocks of La Défense in Paris.

so you dance

In change,
Nothing can be stationary;
So You Dance 
instead of waiting.

You'll find it's a lot easier
There's no worrying
and there's no believing
that the Future can breeze through the questions.

You've won, but Security crash helmets must be worn

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is 'rollover.'

tribute

Tribute —
life just seems filled
with gold

. . . . . . .

Today's erasure poem | commentary was barely scratched out of "skeezy," the OED word of the day.

flavor of age

the flavor of age
is sweet and bitter

the most essential
deliciousness
in Nature

, , , , , , ,

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'umami.'

ordinary

Ordinary
wrapp'd in frosty breath Days
made for walking
when the sun is
Decemberly pale

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'December.'

I returned today, after a month's absence, to find my second most favorite tree in Schmitz Preserve Park draped in yellow tape, like a crime scene. I guess it fell victim to rain and wind and its precarious side-of-the-hill perch. In the ten plus years that I've been walking under it, it had grown to provide a wonderful shady canopy, right where the path split.

Bummer.

RIP, tree.

a cloud

A mischievous
troublesome
Poem
By the cuff
led along,
And settled
In the night.

Rhyme Was tricky
and fitly described
as a Cloud that tormented her

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'nickum.'

I thought it appropriate to end the set of San Diego sketches where they started, at the iconic Santa Fe Depot.

have fun

You need to have fun.
If you have fun
you complete drawings
as cute as a little red wagon
and I think real Zen
in Expressing delight …bravo!

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem|commentary is 'hot dog.'

candor

candor has wings
in the presence of the ordinary/
Light obeying morning

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'nigrescent.'

Mondays

an idea on which
people project their
fantasies and aspirations

Mondays

A fusion of ecstasy and the worst mood

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is "Madchester." Admitting you never heard of the word indicates that you, like me, were musically unhip in the 80s.

tradition

at the heart
of tradition
Memories
promising
everything
to everyone
can only be
individual

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'minarchy.'

heavenly

outdoors,
in a Heavenly state

I can taste
the memory of Summer
& more

. . . . . . . .

The appropriate OED word of the day, with leftovers on the menu, for the erasure poem| commentary is "s'more."

Today's factoid from the Balboa Park ranger is that there is only one palm species native to San Diego County. It is not pictured here :)

stuffed

Cookery 
is a November Life Style

The main attraction is
stuffed
into America
on the big day

. . . . . . . .

Not missing a trick, the OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is ‘turducken.’

Happy Thanksgiving to all, with a special shout out to the family runners!

style

style
marked by sensational
handling

the Star

A quick glance
might make you think
it's far-fetched

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'tabloidesque.'

sci-fi

in a different cosmos
Nothing Is Always Absolute
and everything on the Internet
is really good —

we like sci-fi

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'Sturgeon's Law.'

flamenco

flamenco
hasn't even had lunch yet
at 2pm

. . . . . . 

I should have known better than to attend a flamenco matinee. But Copley Hall (1929), built in Spanish baroque style, is a helluva good show in itself.

travels

travels can't disappoint

After all
it isn't every day an Adventure may develop

Wanderlust is A Freedom
just one of many

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'round-the-world.'

logic yielding to spirit

one of the things I like 
is interesting new ways
to use a Sketch Book

inventiveness is a Playground,
and the best advantage to produce the richest results

Who knows what power may result
from logic yielding to spirit

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'economize.'

It's all happening Saturday mornings at Little Italy's mercato, including good live music to sketch by.

love exhales

the feeling
of being able to touch
a person's best

Love exhales

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'roast beef.'

Pictured are some of the 45 foot winged-sail catamarans racing in the America's Cup World Series on San Diego Bay this week.

spare time

Saturday …
the time needed
4 spare-time

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is the communists' icky concept of 'Saturdaying.'

The picture is of the Coronado Boathouse (1887), which becomes much more amusing when you know it was built as a dry run for the Hotel Del.  Put together a hotel architect who specialized in trestle bridges and a work crew of 300 Chinese, brought down on the paddlewheeler from SF, with no interpreter, and you can see why they wanted to make sure they could actually DO this. The boathouse contains every architectural feature of the hotel.

the wheels of progress

The wheels of progress  
Turn idly

They like nothing
better than the Sun

I can play that game

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'cotch.'

If you ever happen to be in Coronado, Nancy Cobb's Walking Tour is probably the most amusing & fascinating historical presentation I've ever heard. Afterwards, you can, of course, cotch at the Hotel Del like I did :)

USS Makin Island

The OED word of the day is 'ointer,' used as a surname for a dealer in lard. Not a lot there.

The sketch was done yesterday, as I witnessed the maiden deployment of the amphibious assault ship Makin Island, the hybrid "Prius of the Navy."  Next to me a family was videotaping:  "There  goes Chris, leaving on his first voyage... it's pretty emotional..."

real or invented

real or invented design…

There are different
opinions
as to the value
in the end

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'word mark.'

The picture is an invented design of the view from the 18th floor... or a throwback to 60s madras shorts!

locavores

farmer's market —
locavores hunting and gathering
free samples

feeling wobbly

Poems are popular
If you are feeling wobbly
in your relationship
with life

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'rose-tinted.'

11.11.11

while present
and Playing
with the whole of Life,
Time turned
and warmly shook me
by the hand

11.11.11 —Well!

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'pax.'