pause. resume.

uh-huh.
take a break for a second, y'know?
breathe.
ferris bueller knew what was up.
one- you can NEVER go too far.
two- if i'm gonna get busted it is NOT gonna be by a guy like THAT.
ha-ha,
i bet you thought i would lead off with the
life moves pretty fast speech, huh?
c'mon,
i go to eleven, after all...


this beaver was totally not even a little bit concerned about me hanging out with him.
for real, he swam around looking for some tasty eats for half an hour,
and was still cruising right in front of me when i got tired of being mosquito food and went inside.
it's not like he knew i was vegan,
he was just a smooth fearless battle-beast.
respect, mr. beaver.
for being gangster and eatin' those heinous river lobsters.


work is eating my days up.
folk life concentrate needs to be added to this thinned-out weak-sauce work week.
ninjas wanna see me LIVE, son.
furious friday is only hours away.
guns, ya'll.
guns are definitely gonna be blastin'.
never quiet, never soft.....

out on the patio, daddy-o!

my patio garden is being enjoyed.
tomatoes are ripening,
peppers are peppering,
cucumbers are doing whatever cucumbers do.
good soil lends itself to good times.
so grow.


nature.
more of ya'll should get up here.
nature is good for you...


from the depths.
the crayfish, in the old days, was called a crab.
really, it's true.
it symbolizes cancer, the astrological sign.
which is happenin' right now.
(pictures of underwater stuff are hard to get.)

can you see the blueness?
these things are pretty fresh.

it didn't start raining until i finished working!
(on my normal day off, at that)
i hit up the dentist,
and, GOOD NEWS!,
i have big, horselike, wonderful teeth.
after that early morning treat,
i did some workin',
and the minute i wrapped up what i was doing,
thunderclaps, ka-pow!!
and biblical floodwaters erupted.
perhaps ma nature is gettin' a little payback on me with this rain,
for bein' so woodsly,
but not rockin' the woodsly yellow choppers?
i can't be sure,
but i sure am soaked.

more serious sagas are ready to be written,
i'm on it,
never quiet, never soft.....

long drives, last days.

my little lovelies are back in connecticut.
a state chock full of many, many weak-sauce waterbabies,
(and a few highly-dope duders)
after an epic visit,
filled with fun so big it bordered on brutality,
they've gone home.
i miss 'em already.
taking them halfway home took up half my day.
we ate lunch in portsmouth, at the friendly toast, and then headed home...
we spent the remaining hours of daylight in the river.
where i discovered some big-ass crayfish.
big-ass as in trying to bite the dogs, ya'll....
like river lobsters.
their hands have teeth.

and after they scooched under some rocks,
i did manage to vanilla sky the remains of a smaller one.
some fisher cat or raccoon was probably SO psyched to get to munch up some crawdad.
i know i was psyched to find something so dead and awesome...

i also tried to photograph a dragonfly nymph,
but it was too flippin' big, yellow, fast movin',
and horrifying,

seriously,
you have no idea how much i hate fast-moving nasties.

he calmed down, and i got this shot^^^
then i threw it back in the water...nowhere near me, y'heard??
barbarian battle-bugs, ya'll.
no joke.

i found a spent empty body too,
he may be a beautiful winged dart of dopeness now,
but he was sure disgusting before....
out of ugliness comes beauty.
true words, ninjas...... 

then, i waded out to the BIG rocks,

and found THIS!
that's right,
i guess my newfound holiness is helping to cultivate coincidences,
because this wet once-winged warbler was wedged underwater in some weeds.
i know some dudes who love dead birds.

yeah...me too.


just to let you guys know,
this is a rosy maple moth (dryocampa rubicunda).
they're hangin' around the homestead,
being dope,
and also not really camouflaged at all... 
i mean, pink and yellow?
c'mon.


tomorrow,
i further prove how much i'm NOT a native northern new hampshiran:
i'm headed to the toof fairy, uh, dentist,
and his tooth scrapin' lady,
to buff up my pearlies,
and ensure a positive dental outlook.
maybe i'll even get some asbestos caps,
to further ensure a bright and shiny set of choppers,
what with all the hot fire being spat on an hourly basis.....


even after all the long miles, sad farewells, and creepy waterside experiences,
today was participated in to the uppermost limits,
hard, hot, heavy, heartily, happily,
as always,
never quiet, never soft...

participate.

life.
worthy or otherwise,
you're part of it.
there's no gettin' around it.
but,
you get to decide which part you play.
hero,
villain,
love interest,
whoever.
write your saga in deed and word.
inscribe your fateful fortune following footsteps on the interconnected universal planagram.
immerse yourself in the marvelous, the mundane, and the mysterious.
involve yourself in the comings and goings and doings and happenings.
implicate yourself in the trials, terrors, and temeritous triumphs.
insinuate yourself into the hearts and thoughts and words of lovers, thinkers, and singers.
instigate, impress, implore, investigate...
incrementally intertwine yourself.
participate.
as hard as you can,
until the light goes out.
on the real,
active participation.
reader and writer,
singer and listener,
breaking hearts,
burning bridges,
living life.
you're part of it,
so be part of it.
never quiet, never soft.....

BOLD WILL HOLD....

that's right. 
you're looking at soulful soles standin' on sovereign soil.
liberated land.
walk like a warrior, (maybe without toe-rings),
and set your steps free.
paths unfold, ninjas.
for real.....
fortune favors the furious fresh-to-death flavor...
be bold, defined as:
intrepid,
showing a fearless, daring spirit,
adventurous,
free,
standing out prominently;
be BOLD.
wherever we walk, weak-sauce will wallow in it's worthlessness.
i'm tellin' you guys,
now that i'm a minister of woodsly goodness,
you can rest easy knowing that:
the bishop of berserker barbarians is baptizing, ya'll...
the cardinal of capitol calamities is consecrating, ya'll...
the deacon of just be dope is delivering, ya'll...
the friar of flavorful fury is folk-life forgiving, ya'll
the godi of 'gets it in' is glorifying, ya'll.....
the parson of puppets, pugilists, and his peoples is proselytizing, ya'll...
the rabbi of real-time realness is reppin' ragnarok rapturing, ya'll...
the shaman of searing spark-spittin' is sermonizing, ya'll.....
  
life, lived hard, is the order of the day.
let's all be accurately and deservedly named as fortune's worthies.
...oh yeah,
if you're wondering what denominational devotion i plan to practice,
i really like $20 denominations....$50 is good too.
just be dope, that's my ministerial message.
just be dope, today and every day, in every way.
fortune favors the bold, and being dope is a bold move indeed.
bold will hold, ninja.
word.


i never get tired of tiny toadlets.
there're tons of the  little hoppers outside,
helpfully munchin' up all the troublemakin' segmented six-leggeds who try to live in my house.
nature's nature is to eat itself.
that's some heavy sh!t.
i have a hope my natural nature is to gorge myself on knowledge (not bugs),
and catalyze,
and analyze,
and absorb,
and transform,
and eventually accrue and emit wisdom.
like the long-lost last son of Odin...
thought and memory,
i'm gettin' older,
so where's the wiser at?
i'm sayin'......

i live a woodsly life;
never quiet, never soft....

trustworthiness.

so i became an ordained minister this morning.
seriously.
online, even.
the universal life church gives out real deal legal eagle ministerial positions, ya'll...
so now i'm the spit hot fire battle-beast shaman numero uno, my ninjas. 
(and for $30, you can become a doctor of divinity, too.)
the big question now is:
which sounds better, exactly:
Doc Rock?, or Reverend Rock?
i guess the just be dope principle is now the just be dope theology........
hahahaha, that's kinda hilarious and kinda awesome, all at once.
whatever, ya'll.
i can get you married now.
i got that kind of juice, yo.
that's the hottness.
civil unions represent!!!!


wizard-walkin', with our sticks...
fairy face-paint, too.
and glitter,
don't even think about not having glitter....
the 'works were pretty fresh.
'splosions, big bangs, and a ton of people congesting our little village.
popped collars, boston sports team pride, and tribal tats were in abundance...
the homefront pre-fireworks crucial bbq was also pretty sumptuous.
corn, eggplant, zukes, squash, onions, peppers, portabellas, pineapple, & tofu pups,
blazed on the open coals to fill our belly-holes.
takin' care of my people.
you know this.

i'm lettin' my good intentions help me make my moves...
direct action derived from  diligent deference to the secret universal plan.
all you can do is the right thing, right?
and then, the rest should unfold the way it's supposed to.
.....eventually.
i gotta tell you,
berserker battle-beastliness is alot like hard work.
choosing the wrench, every time, weighs in heavy on your endurance.
it is a contest of consequences.
let me explain:
the right thing is never easier. (i've said it before)
and nobody ever gets their due and just props for doin' right.
after all, it's expected, but rarely appreciated.
so it's a lot of work, trying to remain dope, 
just for the warm and fuzzies when you're all alone.
but,
what's the alternative?
weak-sauce whining and self-serving b!tch-sap-baggery?
acting like less than a epic warrior poet?
i trust that doing the right thing, the hard thing, the excruciatingly energy-ebbing deflection of unnumbered attempts to de-dope my being is what keeps a battle bard
worthy of their own hot fire heartbeats......
bring the thunder and accept being beseiged by grim gravy-babies basting b!tchsap sauce
to extinguish your light-bringin' battle-beast boilermaker,
OR,
ooze your flavorless funk for fleeting fortune as a fake-faced fancypants fool.
...and like Mr. T says,
'i pity the fool'
word.


woodsly goodness.
 john ronald reuel, (mr. tolkien if you nasty)
would be proud.....
sometimes silent, occassionally tender,
but,
never quiet, never soft....

i spit hot fireworks.

happy birthday, america.
way to get older and suckier.
...i'm repping 232 years ago, the o.g. independence hottness...
1776, ninjas.....c'mon.

jess's birthday bonanza was a success!
we had a great time last night.
serious boomin' berfday business time.
our peoples came out in force for funtime feasting.
even the cupcakes were bangin';
(i was worried a little- vegan conversion isn't always easy, or delicious)
maple lost another tooth, too,
so the toof fairy came and hooked her up last night.
harvest has a loose front one, as well.
it must be somethin' about the fresh folk life;
all the hot fire we spit is loosenin' their teeth,
but,
adult molten molars for mighty magma maws are makin' moves to push their way through. 
y'heard?.....

party dresses and magnesium phosphate...
pink and purple party people.


how about a fourth of july un-uncle sam?
peter schumann!
this dude is, like, 80!!!
he also founded and continues to just be dope with
the bread and puppet theater.
a lifetime of folk life active participation.
big heads, farms, puppets, printing, writing, baking......
if you wonder who i look up to (literally, when he's on those stilts, yo)
here's one of the few duders to get it right, and gets it in......
have you seen 'across the universe'?
bread and puppet flavor is infused throughout!!!
a pre-game primer on professional puppet perfection!!!
rent that movie. hell, BUY that movie. it's pretty dope.
now,
if you haven't been to glover, vt. to see the farm, the bread and the puppets,
you'd better get crackin'.
you NEED it,
you really do.
we should ALL go.
strangers and friends, and strange friends:
email me: battlebeasteleven@gmail.com,
and we'll make plans for a funday sunday circus celebration road trip.....


explosions in the sky are slated to begin after dark this evening.
fireworks. because fire works.
hot fire works, ya'll,
never quiet, never soft...

thirsty Thor's day thunder!!!!

29 years in a row!
today is Jess's birthday!
yay!!!!.
having a special somebody to span my time with is pretty great.
special day, special lady (actually, ladies)
i am humbled by the life i have been allowed....seriously.
valuable beyond money.
worthy of being shared. 
i remain grateful.

and speakin' of pretty great:

sparklers, ninjas.
never not dope.

shadows and light.
i'm sayin'.


SO many mushrooms....
really,
every day it rains, and every day a new batch of smurf huts spring up...
like one-day only top-secret explosions......
especially since a day after they show up,
slugs, bugs, dogs, toads,
and the sun all help turn them into slick black smears....
enjoy the moment, ya'll.


a stone mosaic of my hand on the sandy shores of the saco.
a temporary testament to tactility.
with an 'indiana jones'-flavored secret circle stick, too.....


another 'nother berserker barbarian medicine mobile.
this one started wth a straight-from-outta-the-river L-shaped stick, yo.
it was beggin' to become a woodsly charmer.
i listened.
that's what warrior poets do...


lessons from nature:
i hold transformation in the palm of my hands....
tadpoles.
c'mon,
change for the better,
from the limits of lakes to the loveliness of land,
and the bountiful beautiful boons brought by both.
eggs become tadpoles become polywogs become frogs.
progress. change. evolution.
from not much to quite a bit, by design.
inexorable inescapable growth.
whether you like it or not;
the secret universal plan is hard at work,
add a fresh-baked batch of just-be-dopeness,
and the next thing you know,
limits are lost,
options are more numerous,
and you're the lord and master of life's lilypads.
how's THAT for a birthday wish?


we made birthday party cupcakes,
and we sparkled into the dark.
light-bringers, one and all.


spirit and memory.
ghost circles,
less smoky, and sometimes brighter.
but without question
never quiet, never soft...

take care of your people...

take care of your people,
all your people, ya'll.

i don't think if you doo-doo it right you can ever really spoil someone.
at least not if they really appreciate what you do for them.
then,
it's really more like you're just properly takin' care of your peoples.
generosity is a critical barbarian battle-bard quality.
cheapskates can JOG ON!
when your people are thankful, and your relationship with 'em is a mutually respectful one,
there shouldn't be much you wouldn't want for or do for them.
gratitude and generosity.
two big G-words.
the foundations of folk life.
sharing, son.
recognize.
gratitude and generosity, ninja, IS sharing...

i am constantly concentrating on competent communication, 
and careful considerate cooperation with my core corps of companions;
what with jess's birthday rollin' up tomorrow,
and the wee lassies relaxing into a regular really real rhythm,
and my out-of-state AND my in-state people
all comin' around for celebrations of independence,
im thinkin' aLOT about with whom and how i share my woodland realm....
aww helllllll, we're sharin' right now, sucka.
i gotta look out for my peoples,
i'm sayin'...


mush in your room,
while we stay portabella...
if you don't own 'the grind date' by De La Soul,
there's something wrong with you.
remedy the situation a.s.a.p.


how horrifying is this little guy?
actually, it's just a moulted grasshopper carapace,
left behind, like last year's fashions;
the woods always gives me little helpful hints about life.
bigger and better things, kids.
ugly, old and busted leftovers are on the outs, 
the new hottness is on the big come up....
folk life magic, woodsly goodness, art-makiness, warrior worthiness,
and neil young album cover-type livin' are the orders for the days ahead:

just maybe not exactly quite that pose....y'know?

the berserker boullion has been brewed to burly battle-beast broth.
weak sauce was never an option....
somehow the good still outweighs the bad,
by a   wide   margin.
(which probably makes me the ugly?)
i started writing this at 5 a.m.,
my sleepy seedlin's are soundly snoozin',
and i'm watching over them ya'll.....
with much respect for the secret universal plan,
i am grateful for the time i have been given.




take good care of your people.
never quiet, never soft......

hail Caesar, it's Julius' month.....

 









rabbit, rabbit.
it's JULY!, my ninjas.
so dope.....
never quiet, never soft....