dan abernathy - contributing to the chaos

december 31, 20072008

Happy New Year

This is the last posting for 2007. So with it I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I hope that 2008 will bring nothing but happiness and contentment to each and everyone.
   With that said I want to give everyone something to wast just a little more gray matter. The people across the pond have come up with a new idea to stomp on tan lines. I find this ironic, as there is not enough sun in England to really worry about the issue. Be that as it may the new C-String has been launched
   "When I try on an evening dress, I am impressed," says Alice Smellie in the Daily Mail. "Normally I can see the smallest of thongs, but with the C-String nothing is visible, and the dress does look more elegant than usual."
   UK exclusive! Kiss good-bye to panty-lines and tan-lines with the incredible C-String Invisible Underwear! The C-String is a completely new and exciting innovation in lingerie. It fits your figure with no need for side-straps!

How does it work?
   C-String has a flexible internal frame that hugs and holds it to the body both securely and comfortably. Your modesty remains safely covered at all times. At the front it looks like sexy underwear, to the rear it has a thong-style strip, and to the sides it has nothing at all!
   Out and about: the C-String can be worn under all your favorite clothes: dresses, skirts, jeans. On the beach: the C-String can be worn alone as beachwear for the perfect all-round tan. Forget the bikini the C-Kini is where it is at! In the bedroom: the C-String is ultra-sexy lingerie!
   If you are still having a time understanding this concept, think about the flexible headbands wore by young girls since the 50’s. So I guess this is just another knock off.

Email Dan; say it & I'll post it!

december 28, 2007

Lets all have a small moment of silence for Paris Hilton. She is only going to get around $5,000,000.00 from the Hilton Estate. Going to have to cut back her life style a bit Paris, it's going to be tough out there! The news said you cried. After hearing what you lost, although it was something that you really never had, I understand why you let the tears flow.

Sometimes I Wonder

Sometimes I wonder why I allow myself to believe in the illusion that I can ever be truly happy. I'm not sure if we ever achieve total happiness. Maybe it is reached in the journey towards this goal, not necessarily in reaching it. It is not that I am unhappy, because I am a happy person. My discontentment derives from knowing I'm not being true to my heart.
I wonder if it is all worth it. We beat ourselves up trying to but life together and for why. Where does it take us, and what are we sacrificing to live the dream that we are programmed to want, forgetting, or putting on hold until it is to late, the one that is in our heart, our true destiny.
   My goal for the immediate future is to complete a plan, a financial plan that is not really who I am. It is not being true to my heart, but I have to be committed to completing it. When I simplify the reasons I can almost justify the means. Build the business up to sell, so I can find the island that awaits me. The one I think about everyday. It is said that we think about sex every waking hour of every day. I'm sure that is true from my own mind, but I also think of finding my island every hour. I also find great satisfaction in creating a third place for the people. They need it and I want to provide it. I have to sacrifice my true being for a while, but I would be creating something good for others to enjoy.
    I have been quoted many times as saying, 'I was a good bum.' A play on a phrase, which meant I had no ties and was free. The problem is now I want to be a better bum, a true vagabond. I'm planning the future right to be this vagabond, and doing so in my own unique style. My life is basically simple and I take great pride in what I do and who I am. Being me is all I want to be, and like I have said many times, "being me is a full time job."
I know where to look for my true self, and for now the journey is my illusion of happiness, but it is only an illusion. I will not let the real plan fade away but rather work towards it. I might be better off being content with what life throws at me, but that wouldn't be much fun.
    So my life is complex and I want simplicity, complex simplicity, what a meaningful statement when we think about it. Things are always more complicated than they seem, but at the same time they're also always far simpler. It just depends on how we choose to look at them. Examine everything to death and get distracted by the same day-to-day annoying problems, turn everything into a crisis --- and life becomes impossibly complex.
   Focus on what is really important to you --- and life is suddenly simple. What we have to remember is, what we worry about is usually unworthy of our worry. Focus on the simple and the complex will take care of itself. Relax and be alert, but don't worry about what others think. Be true to yourself.

Email Dan; say it & I'll post it!

december 25, 2007
As some of you may have noticed nothing has changed on this page for a while. The reason; Danny got sick! It all started when I was but a young lad and had the Chicken Pox. It seems that you never get ride of this annoying disease, but rather it finds a nesting spot in some nerve cell until it can raise its ugly face in a different form. As we glow older, wiser and more stupid we let ourselves fall victim to stress. I don't stress over anything, or so I thought. I hold it inside until something pops and it popped in the form of Shingles. Thank the Pagan Gods that look over old fat guys the accompanying rash appeared on the inside of my leg and not my face. It ran its course and cleared up, but it also knocked my resistance down and I picked op some bug that was flowing through the populist. For three days I felt like I had a whiskey binge hangover, and was extracting fluid like substance form all possible orifices. Let me tell you that it was nasty… I mean really nasty. Now the sun is up, all the sick has draining away, and I feel the creative juices boiling in my blood. Danny be back, and we be contributing to the chaos!

New Photomontage

A couple new photomontages I have finished. I have completed a few more and will post them over the next few days. Don't want to shoot my wad all at once. I don't title any of these. I hardly title any of my art. I think unless a name comes to you as you are creating it, then you should leave it untitled. This will let the image speak for itself. Really that is all I want my art to do. I please myself in its creation and my next hope is that I please the viewer, if just for the moment. If not then pass on by. The next person might enjoy it.

23 Questions

After launching the 23 Question project I think it is time to explain it a bit more. The idea just came one day. It is nothing new or ground breaking. People have been asking and answering questions about themselves for hundreds of years, and in doing so other people have wanted to hear them. We are all somewhat voyeuristic. We want to look into the lives of others, maybe compare them to our own, or look for something else. Quoting the Reluctant Oracle, "you will find your answers in the secrets of others."
There is no right way, or wrong way to answer these questions. It is your choice to answer them and be part of the project, then do so proudly in any way that you may choose, if not then so be it, although not answering them is an answer in its self. Since the answers started coming back to me I have been surprised in the frankness and honesty I have seen. I have also been amazed at the number of people that have been reading them. Am I tickling both sides of voyeurism, the looker and the looked. It is a small movement in a smaller town, or are people looking for answers that they can't find. More than once I have heard after the questions were done that the participant felt a since of liberation. Whatever the reason people are getting involved I applaud them and hope many more will fallow suite.

Email Dan say it & post it!

december 18, 2007

Espresso for the perfect siesta!

(a brief endorsement, advertisement for Rock Rabbit)

Nap time is not just for kindergartners. A whole body of research shows that a midday snooze can increase productivity and alertness in the workplace. Naps can often be the perfect weapons to combat mid afternoon sluggishness, which tends to hit between 2 and 5 p.m.

Strong coffee won't ruin your nap, it will enhance it. A 2003 Japanese study found that you can alleviate sleepiness by combining a short snooze with coffee. Sound counterintuitive? Here's how it works: caffeine takes about 20 minutes to a half-hour to kick in, just enough time for you to nap. That way, if you've had a coffee primed nap, the benefits are twofold: you've rested and you're ready to go when you wake. The British Transportation Department even provides drivers with the following recommendation to combat driver fatigue: "Stop, drink two cups of coffee or a highly caffeinated drink, then take a short nap." Think of a nap as a free extra shot in your latte.

On a different note: on this day 49 years ago my mother dropped 10 pounds, 8 ounces, agony for her and life for me.

Does the slide bar animation have anything to do with coffee, or me for that mater? No, but don’t you think it is amusing?

december 17, 2007

Hay Jude

   Music is one of the most powerful memory triggers there is. A trigger for me is Hay Jude, even though my recollection comes about three years after it had been written.
   Hey Jude was released in August 1968 as the first single from The Beetles' record label Apple Records. Over seven minutes in length, Hey Jude was at the time the longest single ever to top the British charts. It also spent nine weeks as number one in the United States—the longest run at the top of the American charts for a Beatles single. The single has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on professional lists of the all-time best songs.
   Paul McCartney wrote Hey Jude, singing to himself on his way to visit Lenin's soon-to-be-ex-wife, Cynthia, and their son, Julian. The opening lines were, McCartney said in The Beatles Anthology, "a hopeful message for Julian: 'Come on, man, your parents got divorced. I know you're not happy, but you'll be OK.' " McCartney changed "Jules" to "Jude" -- a name inspired by Jud from the musical Oklahoma!
   My strongest memory of Hay Jude, was in Junior High, now known as Middle School. Clay Bassett, was having a afternoon party at his house. LP's were blaring on the stereo, cokes were flowing and the thought of girls were on every adolescent male mind in the house.
   I don't remember ever dancing a slow song with anyone but my mother before this moment, the moment Hay Jude started to play. I had built up enough courage to ask Debbie McCoy, a foxy, well develop girl with long straight brown hair, to dance. As I timidly grabbed her to start two-stepping across the carpeted living room floor, she pulled her hand from out of outstretched left arm, put my hands low on her hips and told me, “this is how we dance now." Her hands went around my neck and I was in heaven. This was nothing like dancing with my mom.
   Now, thanks to the Beatles every time I hear Hay Jude I think of Debbie McCoy and this wondrous feeling of swaying back and forth with a pretty girl. I haven't danced with Debbie for over 35 years, but I'll never forget that first slow dance.

december 16, 2007
Usually I spend little to no time looking at an email that has been forward to me. I find them. Well stupid. I have, however, gotten to spend time looking when they come from Matt, he circulates the good ones. This last one starts out amusing, then turns sickening followed by getting you pissed off. It makes me think of the T-shirt in the shop; Stop Bitchin and Start a Revolution. We need one before our whole country starts the swirly.

A Billion?

The true story about a billion Dollars. This is too true to be very funny The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division. Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean? Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012. Washington, D.C. HELLO!!! Are all your calculators broken?
Tax his land, Tax his wage, Tax his bed in which he lays. Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes is the rule. Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirts, Tax his work, Tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he tries to think. Tax his booze, Tax his beers, If he cries, Tax his tears. Tax his bills, Tax his gas, Tax his notes, Tax his cash. Tax him good and let him know That after taxes, he has no dough. If he hollers, Tax him more, Tax him until he's good and sore. Tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in which he lays. Put these words upon his tomb, 'Taxes drove me to my doom!' And when he's gone, We won't relax, We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!! Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax CDL License Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Perm it Tax Gasoline Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Tax, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax.

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!' And I still have to "press 1" for English. What the heck happened?

december 15, 2007

I had to make a quick trip to Daniel, (just a few miles from Pinedale) I needed to pickup something for the shop, and I was told about a crow that had become a highway fatality. I found the crow got the shot, which I like a lot. Heading on down the road I also found the money shot, a jackrabbit, smacked dead by a rushing motorist and it was laying mangled by the yellow line. In a very grotesque way it is a fantastic image and the epitome of a road kill photograph.

december 14, 2007

I have got some more Road Kill images up. These were shot before and during the recent snowstorm that hit us here in Wyoming. I have noticed something a bit strange in my search for road kill. The deer, which are by for the hardest hit (no pun intended) lay the longest on the roadside, often become a smorgasbord to the scavengers. Moose however get picked up fairly quick. Even when I tell people that I have shoot a moose for this project the response is different than hearing about a blood splattering deer kill. I think it is because we have seen so many deer that we have become insensitive to the fact that they are dead on the road. We have lost all sympathy for them, but moose however, which we do not see so much of, are different. This is the same feelings and reactions that we have when we watch the news on television. We have seen so much death, carnage and chaos in the world that we have become use to it. We don't care until it hits us directly.

I have been getting a good response from my 23 Questions project. People that have received the questions are in various stages of answering them and I am getting them posted as I get them. I was asked why I am doing this, for what reason do I want to collect and post private and often time intimate questions and answers. My first response, as it usually is, I do not know where my ideas come from, they just come. I am going to work up some type of mission statement to try and some type of reason and purpose for the project, because I want this to go a long way and include a lot of people. For now all I can say is there is now right, or wrong way to answer these questions. The people that are taking part in this project are brave and open to let others into their world, sometimes for the first time. Anyway they are answer is revealing something of who you are, even if you choose to not answer them. Some people are getting real serious about them and taking their time while others breeze through them and have fun. What is important to me is that you respond and have some fun. For just a small section of time in your life you are doing something different, and sharing it with the world. I think it should be a liberating experience.