Dig Infinity!

Dig this cat! I know you dug him before, but re-dig him now! This is a cat so heavy, he'll snap your practiced credulity.

Lord Buckley was "a most immaculately hip aristocrat," a comic philosopher who addressed his audience as "hipsters, flipsters, and finger popping daddies," and , my favorite salutation, "My lords and ladies of the royal court." His Lordship was born Richard Myrle Buckley on April 5, 1906. I purchased two Lord Buckley albums from a little record shop in the West Village, NYC, in about 1968, and I promise you, my practiced credulity was totally snapped! His subjects range from historical figures to daydeams to religious deities. Lord Buckley advised his listeners to "Dig infinity!" And they dug it!

If you ever get a chance, you should give him a listen. Or, as Lord Buckley put it, "Hipsters, flipsters and finger-popping daddies, knock me your lobes."

This post is dedicated to the memory of my best friend in the world, Phil Mitchell.

High Time: Dig This

Yes, I believe it is high time to do some explaining about the picture of me. What I'm holding is a shovel. This picture was taken on my birthday, and the shovel was a birthday present from my daughter, India. If you look closely, you can see the aforementioned Gretchen the Snorticuss waiting patiently behind me. She perceives that some digging may be afoot, so to speak. In her case, it's afoot. In my case, it's ashovel.

As long as we're on the subject of shovels and feet, we may as well talk about Ireland. It has come to my attention that if you go to a well known website where we all go to avail ourselves of random information, you can see the question; Explain the expression "Digs with the other foot." The big surprise is, nobody has answered that question. Well, let me tell you, it has to do with the difference in the shovels used by Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. Historically, the Irish Catholics used shovels with long, straight handles with no horizontal grip at the top. If you try to dig with one of these, which I have often done, you'll find that to get a better dig, one must push the shovel with one's foot. And if you're right handed, the foot that seems most logical will be the left foot. However, the Protestants typically used a shorter handled shovel, with the horizontal grip at the top. Just look, my thoughtful and non-sectarian daughter has given me the perfect example, which I proudly display in the picture. With this shovel in hand, one is more likely to push with the right foot. It just works better that way.

I learned all this from Desmond Regan, a fine Irish Catholic fellow, when I was a youngun. Desmond was not only a fine fellow, but a Catholic priest as well. My daddy, Gordy, who was not a Catholic, nonetheless built the little brick Catholic church that stands across the street from the elementary school I attended. But that's a story for another day

Happy Digging!

A Jack Russell Terrier By Any Other Name

Looook, it's my dog! Don't you all wish you had a fearless Snorticuss like mine? Just where do Snorticusses come from? This one came out of the woods behind my house, and she said her name is Gretchen; but I know a fearless Snorticuss when I see one. So, you've never seen a green-eyed dog? Snorticusses always have green eyes. Don't they, Gretchen?

Well, I knew it was a Snorticuss, the first time that I saw it!

Another Day, Another Dollar

So here we are, 2009! The best thing so far is, we have a new Pres!
What else? It feels like a new lease on life.

Meanwhile, Gretchen the dog, has a new leash on life. She's at the vet, getting a bath!

I'm contemplating transforming myself into Buddy Holly. We'll see how it goes. Actually, I won't really transform myself into B.H., I just plan to sing a Buddy Holly song in public, with accomplices. More about that later.

Things to Watch For Here at The Painted Possum !

Soon I'll be posting examples of portraits and other artwork I have recently completed, poems, short stories and highly entertaining illogical thoughts, and, oh yes, snapshots of me and my musical group The Crazy Little Mamas performing a Buddy Holly song ... in public!