heyday

Nature
enjoyed its heyday during
June

. . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'Mousterian,' in case you are an archaeologist.

laughter

miraculous Life …
express Spirit in laughter

. . . . . . .

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

If you, too, are saying, "Hunh?", that's an Anglicization of a legendary German jester called Till Eulenspiegel.

Sometimes ya just gotta say, "WhatEVERRR," roll your eyes and hope the Oxford lads come up with something better tomorrow.

sleepless in Seattle

under the glare of
a streetlight the crows’ nest —
can the babies sleep?

grandstanding

an extraordinary flower
has come to intimidate the poet
with temporary Grandstanding

. . . . . . .

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

I don't know how a 175ft Ferris wheel flies under the radar, but as I was sketching, two locals asked me if I knew what this was! "The Great Wheel" - no modesty in its name - is nearing completion, adding whimsy to the waterfront. Larger image on the Seattle Urban Sketchers blog.

pussel-gutted

No poem| commentary today, as the OED word of the day is the nonce word "pussel-gutted."

A nonce word, I learn, is a word made up to meet a one-time need. That means, of course, there is only a single sentence in the citation, so the idea of erasing words to find a poem is a non-starter.

'Quark' was a James Joyce nonce word until some well-read physicist appropriated it. As for today's word, William Faulkner felt the need to write: "He has pussel-gutted himself eating cold greens." Though I must say that the idea of "rendering oneself obese" by eating cold greens makes me wonder if the Oxford lads have this definition right!

The image is another one of Kubota Garden, with some of the garden map added as collage elements. Again, full image is on Flickr.

color

rare …
those who design infallibly with color

. . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'idiopt,' which, you may be surprised to hear, is a rare old obsolete word for a colorblind person.

Glad I wasn't an idiopt in Kubota Garden this morning. This stone lantern (larger image on Flickr) was brought back from Japan by Mr. Kubota in the 1930s as "personal baggage"; different carry on rules back then! :)

minutiae

I cannot easily say No to
Excessive talking in a Journal

embroiled in minutiae

. . . . . . .

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

Sidebar: I find it really amusing how many times this Google blogging tool does not recognize the OED word of the day - including today's word for excessive talking. However, the most alarming non-recognition was a few days ago when I wrote 'gesso,' and the suggestion for my assumed typo was... gestapo! Yikes.

synthesis

synthesis…
a New process
could improve
the quality of power

. . . . . . .

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

If there really were clean charcoal, I'd be a lot more likely to draw with it.

art reception

now, who have we here?

the invited guests
feast until goodbye time,
celebrate Art,
but, After all,
don't normally buy

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'house- warmer.'

you, planted

the you 
you planted
grows wild;
its flavor delicious

. . . . . . .

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

raindrops

strutting down the walk
the crow impatiently flicks off May raindrops

. . . . . .

The Seattle Urban Sketchers gathered at Magnuson park yesterday. This is the old Crow's Nest Inn, done from my car while light rain fell with watercolor again on paper treated with gold gesso.

the edge

sharply defined, the perfect afternoon shadow

painting a nearly imperceptible transition in color
the edge is all-important!

do not err by sticking too closely to the law

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'penumbra,' sticking with the eclipse theme.

Another watercolor on gold gesso... actually, the same gold gessoed paper as the figure on Thursday; paint it on, wipe it off! Larger image on Flickr.

truth

in the New
is the manifestation
of the Old

the grace of Eternal Truth

. . . . . . .

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

Hope there is a view of the eclipse tomorrow from wherever you are!

hope

heaven on earth—
we Love Poetry,
and deeper still,
we dwell in Hope

. . . . . . . .

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

Painting on gold gesso; guess who went to a Carla O'Connor demo yesterday?

improvisation

establishment-throwing improvisations --
Jazz simply too spectacular not to forgive

. . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is finally one we can understand:  'hot doggery.'

May

with joy comes May
and its trembling,
quivering life

Risin’

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary is 'mirl,' apparently a Norn word - a weird old Germanic language used in Shetland.

I am officially now Done with this historic Methodist church.

urban life

modern urban life
is difficult &
full of anomalies,
shouts the sketches

. . . . . . .

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

The power of Urban Sketchers got Gail Wong and I inside the First United Methodist Church to sketch. The best part was being taken up some weird little staircases and out onto the roof,  by the cool Byzantine dome, a place in downtown Seattle I certainly never expected to be.

a warning

for the weak,
afraid to look
this thing in the face,
old poesie is a Warning:

Don’t squander Peace

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'palter' and even the Oxford lads can't figure out how we got this word for babble or mumble.

This is the last of my Portland series. Larger version on Flickr.

appreciation

silly selves…
appreciation should be obvious,
run much deeper

. . . . . . .

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

Portland's Steel Bridge was a challenge. I ended up cutting a piece of newspaper -- not unlike a string of paper dolls -- to handle most of the lower structure before painting the rest of the sketch.

a dear person

you are a dear, delicious person
in a big and magic universe

by the light of the moon
Fortune was a beckoning smile

. . . . . . . .

I was suspicious when I saw that the OED word of the day for the erasure poem | commentary was 'runcible,' a nonsense word made up by Edward Lear. So, I checked Wikipedia, and sure enough, he was born on this day in 1812.

Forget about Ed: today is Jeff Boone's birthday. Happy birthday, little brother!

old skool

design —
old skool talent
is Welcome
to Spark
Nu style

. . . . . . .

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

Many reasons to like the Mark Spencer Hotel in Portland, but a big one is the free NY Times delivered to your door every morning, which has both all the news fit to print AND great color images to cut up for collages.

Amtrak

once ordinary, now extraordinary — an Amtrak trip

experiment

art —
at a critical moment
If you will courageously resolve to experiment,
it  becomes greater

. . . . . . .

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

This Portland landmark was still being restored when the Urban Sketchers Symposium was here in 2010, so glad I found it this time! Grateful for the tiny shelf outside C Burger for water & paints.
 

visually driven

the curious eye
endeavors to  glimpse
the light and the Color
Behind the dark

the Habitual squinting
of the visually-driven

. . . . . . . .

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

moongazing

The usually hateful crow:
he, too — this evening,
moongazing!

. . . . . . .

An homage to Basho on the occasion of the year's Supermoon. This is how it appeared from my window.

diary

Diary

Went to the theatre.

Sat at home alone and
wrote in the evening,
the crow at hand.

. . . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure poem is 'roupily,' meaning hoarsely. I DO have crows at hand, a nest right across from my window. Waiting for the chicks to appear... and the inevitable dive bombing by Mom :(

"Urbanity" has already appeared, but gets a rerun, now as a winner in the National Collage Society's Annual Postcard Exhibit, which runs through July 22 at the Bellevue Art Museum. All those years of sending handmade postcards to family and friends finally came to fruition!

babuina

In 1939, the Logansport (Indiana) Pharos Tribune asked, "How many of you know that a female baboon is a babuina?"

Whoever knew that did NOT know that 73 years later, babuina would be the OED word of the day.

No babuinas in the Schmitz Preserve Park today.

contrast

inner and outer Contrast…
a Sure Guide to Living

. . . . . . .

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

This painting of the historic Alki Homestead is in work for the Washington Preservation Trust Auction that the Seattle Urban Sketchers are participating in. Lilacs are blooming!

a conversation

Life
is a conversation
with unpredictable results,
capricious Dialogues
that affirm love

. . . . . .

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

shrugs

Light mockery;
you must practice the shrugs which the French
delight in

. . . . . . .

The OED word of the day for the erasure commentary is 'persiflage.' No light mockery or shrugs on Sunday, when Gabi Campanario did a reading and many Urban sketchers in the audience were sketching the Seattle Sketcher.