The Basement Attic

Pointless story

Mushroom Girl — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:17:39 GMT

There was this one homeless guy in San Francisco (just one? har har) who asked me for a beer. I was walkin home from work where we'd just had a party like we did every two weeks (this was a tech support job in the early 90s, so parties happened a lot back then). Anyway, I was walkin down Market Street away from the Ferry Building, and this guy was lyin there with a happy smile and cardboard sign. The sign says something like "Why lie? I need a beer." So I reached into my backpack and pulled out one of the beers I had there. I carry all kindsa crazy things in my backpack; from cheese to hunks of meat or bread; pads, scissors. You just never know what you're gonna pull outta there. He looked kinda surprised but pleased. I tried finding something to open the bottle with for him. These were fine import bottle beers, by the way. I had a few of them on me. He asks me, "You got a lighter?" ya know, ta open the bottle with, and I couldn't find that either (although I was smokin a ciggie at the time). Guess I was a little buzzed too. Plus the backpack was a bottemless pit. Anyway before I can react, he takes the beer to his mouth and opens it with his teeth. It was weird; I couldn't look away but I was horribly afraid to see his teeth cracking with the strain. I guess I stood there in case he needed someone ta try fixing any broken teeth. Who knows? I coulda had something in the backpack for tooth emergencies too. In fact I did the same thing back in high school, opened a beer bottle with my teeth, and although I didn't break any teeth, I did scrape my enamel off enough that it caused me pain and trip to the dentist's office. But the guy was ok. I kinda miss San Francisco right now. I don't mis the drinkin or smokin so much, but I kinda miss giving people stuff.

Happy Poet's Day - Late!

Mushroom Girl — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:08:09 GMT

It was yesterday. Here's an oldie of mine I like: Sorry in the fresh and rotting womb Able to break into this world Trying to piece together the clues Oceans flying unfurled Rare the mind that sees Aping pluckish woes Revealed Entomology restores Pious fright and postures On the roaming sanad They who swallowed Ever gone Nectar of the gourd Epiphany so wrong Tattle and mislead Of their favoured fracture Picking swollen seeds Earth and skin collide Raking on the sky Area of ground Roaming falling down Obtuse fractions Threatening to dawn Aria shrill Sanity redeeming © 2000 C. Devine

Long and fun! The Survey

Mushroom Girl — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:45:51 GMT

I'd love ta hear your answers to these questions folks. But only if you've got a while! Thanks, Rapunzel. DO YOU LIKE BLUE CHEESE? In moderation. And with good crackers! HAVE YOU EVER SMOKED HEROIN? No, man. Goddamn. DO YOU OWN A GUN? No, but I’m not weaponless. WHAT FLAVOR DO YOU ADD TO YOUR DRINK AT SONIC? Don’t go. DO YOU GET NERVOUS BEFORE DOCTOR'S APPTS? Ever since the male doc who ogled my bare chest because I had a sore throat, I’ve insisted on female docs, but I still get a little nervous. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HOT DOGS? As long as there’s no meat in them, they’re ok. I don’t wanna be chewin on no pig vagina or anything! FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE? White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney! I’m a sap for old song and dance movies. WHAT DO YOU PREFER TO DRINK IN THE MORNING? Green tea latte. CAN YOU DO PUSH UPS? A few. I prefer ta do them while standing on my hands and balancing against a wall. Just for weirdness’ sake. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN IN A WEDDING PARTY? About five. I had lots of cousins, growing up! WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY? It’s weird; I haven’t worn any for years. Okay maybe the copper nail burning man necklace someone gifted me last year. FAVORITE HOBBY? Singing. Playing guitar. WHAT SONG USUALLY PLAYS IN YOUR MENTAL CD PLAYER? Highway To Hell - ACDC DO YOU HAVE A.D.D. I thought I did, but it turns out I don’t, and I just had ta give up coffee! WHAT'S ONE TRAIT YOU HATE ABOUT YOURSELF? Fixating on the bad stuff. Sometimes I have a hard time just letting something go. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS AT THIS EXACT MOMENT? Uh, on answering the question above. NAME 3 DRINKS YOU REGULARLY DRINK? Water. Green tea. Protein drinks. CURRENT HATE RIGHT NOW? Mean people. FAVORITE PLACE TO BE? I’m not sure I have one. I guess at home, for the moment. Although I have this cool park I go to in my head a lot! HOW DID YOU RING IN THE NEW YEAR? Laughing with James. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO? Colorado ta visit friends and then Hawaii to visit family. NAME THREE PEOPLE WHO WILL COMPLETE THIS. Wow, I guess I’ll find out if anyone does. It’s dubious though; this is pretty long. DO YOU OWN SLIPPERS? Nope. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? It’s brown, green, pink, tan, gold and magenta. With little silver sequins. Yeah I’m fancy today. DO YOU LIKE SLEEPING ON SATIN SHEETS? I guess, but they get cold so fast. CAN YOU WHISTLE? *Whistles* FAVORITE COLOR? All of em. Well especially green. WHAT SONGS DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER? All of them! Mostly 70s pop or stuff I make up. I’ve always thought the pipes sound like they’re singing, when the shower’s runnin. LAST THING THAT MADE YOU LAUGH? The ridiculousness of reality itself. I laugh about it like every 10 minutes. WORST INJURY YOU'VE EVER HAD? I’ve been lucky. Only a dislocated shoulder, dislocated sacrum, a bunch of small cuts and burns (I worked as a cook for a while), a sprained finger, and the coolest injury would have ta be that porcupine quill through the wrist! DO YOU LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE? I love it fine. I’d love it even more though if I could make it larger and replace all my neighbors with trees. HOW MANY TVs DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR HOUSE? One, and that’s sometimes too many. I mainly use it ta play video games, movies and music though. WHO IS YOUR LOUDEST FRIEND? James because he can really belt it out when he sings! HOW MANY DOGS DO YOU HAVE? None right now, but in my lifetime, about a dozen here and there. DOES SOMEONE HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU? That would be cool huh? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK(S)? Can I say Discover magazine? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CANDY? Right now, green tea-flavored anything is my favorite. Of course I love good chocolate any time. FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM? RAIDERS!!!!! WHAT SONG DO YOU WANT PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL? Aw man, I gotta have a funeral? Just so everyone sings SOMEthing, I would be a happy spirit. WHAT WERE YOU DOING AT 12 A.M. Sleeeeepin. WHAT WAS THE FIRST THING YOU THOUGHT OF WHEN YOU WOKE UP? Mmmm cozy!

It's All Over Now Baby Blue

Mushroom Girl — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:41:04 GMT

I'm tryin ta learn this song on guitar this weekend. Here's a link to 13th Floor Elevator's cover of the Bob Dylan song (Bob is rumoured to say it's his favorite version). Happy Friday! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kprm9aTi8BI "The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense. Take what you have gathered from coincidence. The empty-handed painter from your streets Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets. This sky, too, is folding under you And it's all over now, Baby Blue."

Ahh the hot days of summer!

Mushroom Girl — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:07:07 GMT

Open letter to women who show cleavage in the office: 1.) Thank you. 2.) Huh?

When the Levee Breaks

Mushroom Girl — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:08:07 GMT

My heart goes out to all the people on the Mississippi right now. Levees breakin all over the place. Here's a picture of one. I grew up on the river in Wisconsin/Minnesota and we kept a careful eye on the rising waters all spring. I could tell by the line of silt on the base of the bridge just how many feet the river had risen in one night. We sometimes got flooded, but never as bad as what's on the news now. "When the Levee Breaks" - Led Zeppelin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-AanPHMbC4

Damn cool!

Mushroom Girl — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:32:31 GMT

Legos - 10 weirdest models. This here's an actual working guitar. They've even got a working lie detector out of Legos on this page! http://www.asylum.co.uk/gallery/10-weirdest-lego-models-1/794888/

"Do you think this outfit makes me look gay?"

Mushroom Girl — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:00:12 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W19wr5rXVHk Superheros ask their confidants!

Time travelin

Mushroom Girl — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:22:18 GMT

Back to the 90s - Mother Love Bone - "Star Dog Champion" Good fun. I remember that when this song first came out I was back in Minnesota with James, workin an early morning shift at a bindery. It was January and 18 below zero. I'd walk about a mile past burnt houses and snowbanks to the warehouse district of Minneapolis around 5 am. On the weekends we'd go to First Avenue and get drunk and slam around in the mosh pits during various concerts (White Zombie, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, etc.) Good times. Somehow they get even better when looking back... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7CPIXnaeeQ PS - The pic here is of Andrew Wood, lead singer, died of a heroin o.d.

.

Mushroom Girl — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:51:20 GMT

Haa, no one reads these things anyway! :P

American Walking

Mushroom Girl — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:40:52 GMT

Here’s two interesting types of walking I’ve encountered in America. One is Leaf-Walking. The other is Rail-Walkin. The first type is from the Native Americans and it’s a way to walk in the woods without disturbing anything so as to have stealth on your side. Imagine being able to walk on dry leaves without making a sound, kinda like how Kwai Chan tried to walk on rice paper in Kung Fu. I don’t think it’s really so much walking on leaves without making a sound as it is walking around them gracefully, and knowing by instinct and trial and error how to find and follow the quietest path. When you rail-walk, you walk balancing on railroad tracks. It seems easy coz the track is about a hand’s width across, but the metal is worn smooth by the trains and so it can be very slippery. Couple this with the fact that there is another set of tracks right where your head might hit the ground, if you were to fall hard. There’s an old blues song I put a link to here that Leadbelly did, called “linin’ the tracks”, which is about building a railroad. I can’t help but hear it when rail-walkin. “Oh boys, is you right? Done got right! All I hate 'bout linin' track These ol' bars 'bout to break my back Oh boys, can't you line 'em, Jack-a Jack-a Oh boys, can't you line 'em, Jack-a Jack-a Oh boys, can't you line 'em, Jack-a Jack-a See Eloise go linin' track Moses stood on the Red Sea shore Smotin' that water with a two-by-four If I could I surely would Stand on the rock where Moses stood Mary an' the baby lyin' in the shade Thinkin' on the money I ain't made” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31SR9RoSDtg&feature=related

In Grappling with Misanthropy

Mushroom Girl — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:28:15 GMT

I heard them playing piano through the wall The woman was doing it and singing Her guy was in the bathroom. I’d seen him once, in the hallway. Handsome, as they all are, as All the women are pretty too, Here. And I could see him now, broken Into shards of peach by the faceted Bathroom window, across the way. A few yards through the walls, With a darkened closet-like drop off between. And who knows what, skittering in the darkness. It didn’t entirely repulse me, This nearness to strangers I heard her continue to sing and play piano, Saw his body shift, and Felt no affront to my solitude I felt instead a brave moment Where I didn’t mind someone Being close. I lingered in my thoughts And form before moving into the living room. 6-3-08

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Mushroom Girl — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:05:01 GMT

Hop on the bus, Gus!

Mushroom Girl — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:48:29 GMT

Lookit them gas prices - Come on, we bus people don't bite! Mostly... I think in America everyone should be given the choice to telecommute like, immediately.

Gary Kasparov beats down Flying Cock

Mushroom Girl — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:19:50 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haRZxPw0JYg The subtitles are sheer hilarity! These Russians have the best sense of humour ever! ;D

An interview with the Plants

Mushroom Girl — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:55:12 GMT

...Reprinted with permission ;) Q: What do you guys think about landscaping, and pruning and weeding? A: We look upon life as first, we are. Second, we are being changed by humans. It’s a secondary thing, and not a thing that’s permanent. We still find ways to thrive, although sometimes humans put us into weird positions, planting us next to unfamiliar species who sap our nutrients or confuse our sex life. Also what humans do to us confuse animals (and bugs). It’s pretty funny, and they don’t catch on. Q: Is there anything I can tell the humans for you? A: Haha, you can’t tell humans anything, any more than they can make us be. Q: How about genetic experimenting; how do you feel when humans take away your ability to seed, or change your color and chemistry? A: We, as every life form, find ways to thrive. Whatever humans do to us, we own. We become. And what humans don’t seem to realize is, after they change us, we own the change, not them. It’s now out of their hands. This may not end up being an altogether good thing for them. But do we feel abused? No. … “Humans think they own the changes made in this world, when really the whole world ever has been change” – Plants, 5-20-08

Public Sex: Revolutionary act or selfish vulgarity?

Mushroom Girl — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:28:52 GMT

The punk band MC5 in the 70s espoused the theory of revolutionaries having sex “in the streets” to overthrow the current governmental and status quo mindset. However, accounts of Hitler’s followers having public sex also abound when he visited towns and his followers were apparently overcome by his power. Is public sex anything but a simian act of loss of control? Is there a message in it other than selfishness? I submit to you that humankind is not comfortable with public sex for many reasons, the main of which is entirely genetic or darwinianistic: A life form doesn’t want to see others in their species having sex that they’re not involved in. News reports of people being shot while in the act in public parks and so forth have been printed in recent years. Our popular art reflects this base reaction to sex in horror movies, where the antagonist always seems to slaughter couples in the act of coitus. Although few are public sex acts in these movies, the underlying mindset is represented. I can see where the revolutionary idea – in the Burning Man community especially - of breaking boundaries and “shaking up the straights” might be the goal of some people in reference to having public sex, but does it really make a society more open and equitable in as far as the free distribution of ideas or rights? Or is it instead that people having public sex are getting off on the thrill of discovery and/or being watched, but not completely taking into account the feelings of all they may be involving in their act? Isn’t that what sex is about anyway? A sense of connection to - and the feelings of - those involved in the sex you’re having? Could this element be one reason for the latent anger and desperation, as well as the occasional assault and harassment incidents we’ve all witnessed on the Playa? And could it be that the reason for so many people not feeling (or subconsciously squelching) their distaste for public sex, and instead finding joy in beholding it, are the very people who are engaging in it or have engaged in it? This may not be true, but it is a thought and a theory. I myself have had semi-public sex and never been caught, but I feel in retrospect that it was a selfish thing, as the thrill was in being discovered and hence subjecting other people to the possibility of emotional upheaval. I submit to you that almost all human beings are instinctually angered at viewing public sex. Otherwise, would our society discourage sex in so many of its forms as vehemently as it does? And to the “freak” or “artistic” community, I dare to say that even its members have had flashes of anger about sex, especially when one is not having it. Anger and sex go together often, and we should stop judging as pollyana or prudes those who admit to feeling it. Do we have to keep pigeonholing people into being pro-sex or anti-sex (both public sex or not), when really every life form, every human being, is both pro-sex and anti-sex depending on their mood, their age, their lot in life? Will this “pro or con” pigeonholing really help humanity’s relationship with sex, and steer our species into a healthy communal mindset, eventually helping to eliminate such horrors as homophobia, child pornography, rape, incest? Or will this pigeonholing just prolong our collective confusion and inability to broach the subject like the thinking creatures we claim to be? Do we all have to be either christian fundamentalists OR artistic freaks? Isn’t there a middle ground? Are there times sex has angered you? I can admit to this. Does it mean I’m crazy or really honest? Could I be projecting? Maybe a little, but personally, until I figure humanity out, I’m not afraid to admit I’ll avoid having to encounter viewing or having public sex whenever I can. This is one reason I may be sitting this Burning Man out. Do I have hangups about sex? Of course I do; I’m human. And to those who insist on having public sex: You have your own hangups about sex too, or you wouldn’t need to do it in public.

Funniest movie in the world!

Mushroom Girl — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:12:52 GMT

I have never laughed so hard in my life. Two guys from Menomonee Falls Wisconsin set about making a horror film. Think Jim Anchower from The Onion; that describes them pretty well. I'm from Wisconsin so this is really even more funny to me; I grew up with guys like this. Warning: If you watch this movie try not to eat or drink during it - you will spray that shit out your nose. http://www.americanmovie.com/

Mushrooms clean up oil spills

Mushroom Girl — Mon, 12 May 2008 15:58:36 GMT

This makes Mushroomgirl happy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENPkgAEcDoY

"One toke over the line, sweet Jesus..."

Mushroom Girl — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:18:25 GMT

On the Lawrence Welk show. No shit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye3ecDYxOkg

Father of LSD Dies

Mushroom Girl — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:36:22 GMT

"Dr. Hofmann first synthesized the compound lysergic acid diethylamide in 1938 but did not discover its psychopharmacological effects until five years later, when he accidentally ingested the substance that became known to the 1960s counterculture as acid." "...It was during his work on the ergot fungus, which grows in rye kernels, that he stumbled on LSD, accidentally ingesting a trace of the compound one Friday afternoon in April 1943. Soon he experienced an altered state of consciousness similar to the one he had experienced as a child. On the following Monday, he deliberately swallowed a dose of LSD and rode his bicycle home as the effects of the drug overwhelmed him. That day, April 19, later became memorialized by LSD enthusiasts as “bicycle day.”" Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/world/europe/30hofmann.html?_r=1&no_interstitial&oref=slogin

Zen Sidewalk Garden

Mushroom Girl — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:32:01 GMT

Yeh.

There's a mouse in the apartment

Mushroom Girl — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:58:20 GMT

... and he's got fleas.

What's that living in your eyelashes?!?

Mushroom Girl — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:17:49 GMT

Could it be mites?!? Here are three Demodex Folliculorum burrowed into a hair follicle. "Demodex Folliculorum was first discovered in human hair by a researcher at Nioxin, a major hair-care and cosmetics manufacturer, thanks to a newly developed, hand-held, high powered microscope capable of magnifying the human scalp up to 1000 times. What did he see? As many as a dozen mites, burrowed head down in the hair follicles, feasting off the oily secretions of the scalp known as sebum. Nioxin Research Laboratories in collaboration with Tulane University, pointed out that, of individuals with thin-looking hair, 88% have Demodex Folliculorum. In contrast, only 9% of tested individuals with normal hair density had Demodex Folliculorum." Source: http://www.jashbotanicals.com/articles/demodex_folliculorum.html

RIP Paul Davis

Mushroom Girl — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:09:33 GMT

"JACKSON, Mississippi (April 23) - Singer-songwriter Paul Davis, who had a hit with the soft rock hit "I Go Crazy," has died. Davis died today at a hospital in Meridian, Mississippi, the city where he grew up. He died of a heart attack, according to his cousin, James Edwards. Davis was 60." Here's a link to that song - One of my very favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNMKeslwF8g