Restoring Grandpa Herman...

I wanted to put the great new photographic portrait I got of my grandfather Herman Aaron here on my blog. But the photo, probably over a hundred years old, was a bit deteriorated and stained, so it needed retouching to look its best. Below is the cleaned up image. This is only the second photo I have ever seen of him, so it means a lot to me. While he died long before I was born, I feel a real connection to this man. The photo is undated, but I'm guessing it was taken near the turn of the last century, when he would have been 38 years old.

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And below is a list of passengers, showing Grandpa Herman, and Grandma Julia, along with my 14 year old father Gloster and his older sister Jean, on a return trip from Europe, sailing on the SS Olympic, in 1927. They are at the top of the list. Click on the image to see it large enough to read their names.

Doodle Drawings #3

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Jaya's Tombstone

I thought this would make a lovely tombstone for me, at some future date. (Or perhaps it is my tombstone from some previous incarnation.) There will be a group of cats who around it, with attendants who come to feed them. The cats will also have a small mausoleum nearby, with soft, fuzzy kitty beds for them to sleep in.



And, for the pleasure of my visitors, in the back of the tombstone there will be a nifty dispenser of delicious chocolate truffles, hand made by my pal MaLu. Yes... I don't want gloomy guests! I want them standing around my grave exclaiming with sensual delight: "Mmmmm, Ooooo, Yum yum yum!"

Cats Eating Corn

Well, I never knew cats had a corn fetish... although, I wonder if they really like the corn, or are just going for the butter that's on it. I don't know. But I do know that after watching these videos I want some corn on the cob. YUM. Please excuse me, I need to pop over to the grocery store now! But here are some videos for you to watch while I'm gone:

The Light Is

Poem of Dreams

Dreamed of anger,
raging hot,
and the shame
that it brought forth...

Dreamed of flowers,
pure and white,
of lying among them,
breathing...

Dreamed of a golden shoe,
that fell from a delicate foot,
and aroused the blush of desire...

Dreamed of you,
dreamed of you,
dreamed of you.

Jaya Joins PayPerPost

Recently I signed up to be a member of PayPerPost, and they accepted my blog. This is very cool. For those of you not familiar with PayPerPost, let me explain. They offer a variety of subjects for bloggers to post about. Then the blogger chooses ones that interest them and writes about them on their blog. If they write good posts, following the guidelines set by PayPerPost, then they get PAID for them. PAID!! Yahoooo!

I first learned about PayPerPost by reading posts like this on other people's blogs, and I also saw it being talked about on some of the blogging discussion boards. So I checked it out, and saw it was a good thing! If you're a blogger, and you'd like to earn some money on your blog, you can sign up too.

What you are now reading is my very first post for PayPerPost. Yes, they're going to pay me to spread the word about PayPerPost, and let you know that I'm now a member. For this little post, PPP is going to pay me $20. Easy money! Getting paid for what I love doing! That's great. Thanks, Pay Per Post.


You see, even Shmitty and Punkin are impressed with the PayPerPost opportunity. Could it be because they know that the money I earn may be spent on catnip toys, or tasty cat food? Maybe so. And of course, there will be more money in the future, as there are already other opportunities waiting for me at PayPerPost. No doubt my cats have plans for how that future income will be spent... winter is approaching, it might be time for some new soft, fuzzy, warm cat beds.

New Mexico Walk...

I drove up into the Sangre de Cristo
(Blood of Christ) Mountains yesterday.

I stopped, and walked into the woods
on the path above. I came across the
ruins of an old foundation, below...

This mini cave had formed among the
foundation rocks. Perhaps it was home
to the little ground squirrel I saw earlier?

Then I emerged from the woods,
out into the large sloping field, and
found this flat rock to sit upon.

I sat, I breathed, I gazed upon the land.

There were few summer flowers left,
but I did find this brave yellow blossom.

And I found this old thistle still standing tall.

And the sun was shining bright above me...

...shining bright, and powerful.

This image peeked out from an aspen tree.
(Perhaps I could sell it on E-Bay as a sacred icon?)

I paused to look up,
before I left the forest.

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