Visiopoetics

SO

+ SO

+ HOT

——–

SWIM

The Lupus Foundation of Virginia’s Charlottesville chapter is back.  If you or someone you care about has any sort of autoimmune disease, we’re here for you.

Our monthly meeting is this Saturday 08/01 (first Saturday of the month) at 12-noon, at ridiculously wonderful local business C’ville Coffee off Harris Street.  As always, I’ll have local resource lists, pretty pamphlets, assorted swag, and a wide open mind.  Talk autoimmunity to me and I’ll buy you coffee.

Contact lupusfoundationofvirginia at gmail dot com for more information.  After we cure lupus, we can still be friends.

It’s incredibly vibrant, integrates word and image, and involves pretty flowers.  You know I’m in.

Lucien de Guise of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia just published a lovely piece on Chinese-Islamic calligraphy (sini) from the 14th century to the present.   Mental note:  learn Chinese and Farsi; move to Malaysia.

(Photograph:  Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia.  Probably taken by Lucien de Guise or some other former/current museum employee; the article does not specify.)

SHADE

+ SHADE

+ SHADE

+ SHADES

————

SUNSET

So you’ve decided to learn to speak Summer! You’ve made an excellent choice. Whether you’re a linguist by trade, or are planning a trip for business or pleasure, when you visit The Beach you must be able to communicate with the locals. Never fear - Summer is a beautiful language spoken by fascinating peoples. I’m delighted to be your instructor in Introductory Summer. Now let’s get started!

In which I divine your week in political horror.

ARIES:  Have you ever had a cat?  Before you disdain them as not your type, reconsider the question:  have you ever been found by an animal in need with a spirit that matched your own?  How about a person?  This is a good week for pausing to take a good look behind the restaurant, to see who’s really around.

TAURUS:  The Japanese economy is supposedly stagnant in part due to a very low birthrate over a very long time.  But the British economy doesn’t have that excuse, since lots of immigrants to the UK help prop up their birthrate.  It sounds vaguely racist, but what if only natives count?  What if immigrant birth rates tell you what foreigners think of the economic future of a given country, but native fertility tells you whether the country has faith in itself to build a brighter tomorrow?  Whether you go buy a Chia pet or have a talk with your special someone, this is a good time to have a little faith.

GEMINI:  Flim-flam Rockingham, build a horse with glue.  Start from where you want to be and what you want finds you.  I’m pretty sure the stars are giving you the green light to decide what you want, pretend like you already have it, and work backwards.  Doesn’t mean:  live irresponsibly.  Does mean:  stand up straight and smile.

CANCER:  When you need a vacation and you don’t take it, everybody suffers.  Over time, you will pay the price as well – who knew fatigue was cumulative?  Go to the beach.  It probably won’t fall off this week, and if it does, your staying at work could have done nothing to prevent it.

LEO:  Go Leo, go Leo, it’s ya birthday, probably literally.  Oh, and if you have a choice this week between drinking the goldfish and keeping it as a pet, look closely before deciding to see if it’s not dancing to the beat.

VIRGO:  So you lost the match.  As long as you don’t go home and kick the dog, you’ve won at the end of the day.

LIBRA:  Lucid dreaming is an urban myth according to some, a veritable hallucination to others.  Obviously, they’ve never had a lucid dream.  Keep a notepad by the bed anyway.

SCORPIO:  So I haven’t been good about reading political claptrap lately, and the stars say this might pose some kind of problem for one of us.  I think this is about gossip.  Which means it’s really about paying attention to your surroundings.  Boo.

SAGITTARIUS:  He who doesn’t work, doesn’t eat.  While you do both quite well, that doesn’t mean they must be intricately linked in your world at all moments.  You can have a reward without a penalty lap.  Of course, if you want to do another lap anyway once you’re refueled…

CAPRICORN:  Hiking boots:  $35.  Bug spray:  $7.  Second-hand floppy hat:  $2.  Getting out where no one can reach you on your cell:  priceless.

AQUARIUS:  Some people hack down the weeds.  Others eat them, paint them, or weave them into stylish hair decorations.  Stop looking at the ground and watch where you’re going.

PISCES:  Dogs say, Woof.  Cows say, Moo.  Pisces say, Hey, let’s go bowling.  Seriously, bowling?  It’s summer!  Break out those sandals and take off that ridiculous shirt.

Today Monkeybicycle features my short oeuvre, “The Fictional Herbalist:  Illegal and Quasi-Illegal Herbal Wisdom, As Passed on Through Underground Fiction in the Reagan – Bush Years.”

With enough popularity, the spin-off made-for-TV drama, “Ice-cream and Freedom!” is coming soon to a samizdat near you.

In anticipation of a pleasant disruption of your regularly scheduled Friday Alphametic.

GARDEN

+ HERBS

+ GREEN

———–

HERBAL

                                    
Updated for summer, my exhibit of oils continues at the lovely, local Millmont Grille, just behind the Barracks Road Shopping Centre.

SHELL

+ SHELL

+ SHELL

+ SHELL

+ SHELL

+ SHELL

————–

BROTH