Piggly Wiggly

This is a sign from a Piggly Wiggly store in Sikeston, Missouri. Piggly Wiggly was the first store to let (make?) customers pick out their own groceries. Before the "Pig" people waited while clerks picked out the things on their shopping lists. Now we can go get stuff ourselves without having someone wait on us hand and foot. Thank you Mr. Piggly Wiggly.

At Little Rock Zoo

This is me and Rejeanne at the Zoo in Little Rock this past February. The animals were glad to see us. Several of them "did their business" for us. We found the Fox particularly fragrant.

Ms Dorothy's Party

This is me and Ms. Dorothy at Uptown Bill's Small Mall in Iowa City. We often "party hearty" at Bills. Sometimes we even eat chocolate.

Buddha's Hippocampus

This Buddha was sitting in an Iowa City shop window. Why? Only Buddha knows. I once went to Japan to study about Buddha...I was not a very good student. When I was getting ready to return to Florida a priest quoted the Bible. I thought it was odd that a Buddhist would quote the Christian Bible but then I was not myself when I was in Japan. Maybe I have never been myself. I don't know, or really care anymore. Like I was saying...the priest quoted the bible passage about wine skins:

Luke 5:37,38 No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved. No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’"

I don't understand what the priest was getting at, but as I said, I was not a very good student. I no longer worry about ideas like new and old, much less wine. It has been my experience that worrying about distinctions like old and new causes me pain. Whatever I have in front of me must be sufficienct or else I will be unhappy. If I am new and long to be old I will be unhappy. If I am old and long to be new I will be unhappy. If I want that which I do not have then I will always be unhappy. I wrote a poem about this idea when I got back from Japan. It was written in Iowa City, an old wineskin of mine, about what I felt that day, definitely new wine since I was in a manic fit (or at least so I am told).

Old and New Wine

The old wine can be made new.

Plum blossoms can become buds.

Shiva can learn to waltz to "Also Sprach Zarathustra"

Vasque hiking boots can be the key

For me

To set free

That which is in me

Finding A Place

Is this lamp trying to be a tree? I do not know. Does the tree wish it were a lamp? Don't know that either...being neither lamp or tree. Guess I did too much acid back in the 70's.

Southern Women

I was made from Southern Women.
Mattie Jean’s blood flows in my veins.
Aunt Maysel’s grit stiffens my spine.
The joy of Aunt Pat’s chocolate pie shines in my eyes.
Grandma Hankins gave me laughter.
And most of all Grandma Mac gave me my soul.
Their blood, grit and soul have long departed.
Motes in God’s - eye returned to the stars.
Yet their spirit remains.
Lifting me from darkness,
When I would fade to nothing.
Shaping my path when my feet lose their way.
Yes Southern Women made me;
from the red Arkansan clay.

Balloons

Thinking of balloons. Or is it balons? Or baloons? Or ballons? I bet the balunz don't care.

Chair Lottery

Who is going to sit in the chairs? Who lives in this purple and yellow room? Who? I ask you! Who?! Please send your responses to daleshankins@yahoo.com and win a chance at a magnificent prize.

Bluesman Jack

I met Bluesman Jack at Tony's Grill in Iowa City, Iowa. He is not there anymore. His face has finished sliding off the page.

Tree And A Poem

This tree lives in my memory. It's parent lives in Iowa City. Happy tree.

A poem for today. It is kind of happy.

A woman's tears open my deepest wounds

Resurrecting a child buried by his mother's pain

"Yes Mamma...I love you Mamma...Please no Mamma."

I fall into a timeless hell but do not die

Seeing no one to judge me I walk on

May women keep their tears

I have enough of my own

Liquid Glass

I have been told that glass is a liquid rather than a crystal. If it is a liquid then it does a pretty good impersonation of a crystal.

Daily Bread

In mute wholesomeness the bread sat upon my plate...

I ate it anyway.

Bush Hell

This Bush was outside in the Iowa winter bothering no one. Cruelly, I captured its image, twisted it with Photoshop and have now shamefully exposed it to the world. I am an investigative reporter, I surely shall go to Bush hell.

New Fiesta

We did not have enought plates for everyone so we bought two new sets of Fiestware. It is the new Fiesta. It is not the old, authentic Fiesta. The food tasted okay anyway.

Christmas Corner

Last year the materialism of the season was too much. The torment of presents was too much. This year, thanks to Rejeanne, there is room in the corner for a small tree. A corner is enough I think. It is big enough to be a reminder of the happy parts of the season yet small enough not to overwhelm me. Thank you Santa Rejeanne.

Stonehenge

Me at Stonehenge. Guess I thought I saw something meaningful. There were many rocks there. Merry Christmas.

Chicago Building

It is late in the day in Chicago. Only one person is still working in this building. Can you see the light? I once worked in such a building. I don't do that anymore. I have seen the light...and many other strange things.

Mysterious Curtains

This image orginally started as a picture of some curtains. I believe they are the ones we had in our house in Florida. But then I have been mistaken about what I believe many times in the past.

Tired Purple Flower

Looks like how I feel about now - dried out and a bit crispy around the edges. Late night.

State Flower of Iowa

Whatever

Green Heart Leaf

Fairytale Rose

Early Christmas

Artificial imagination. Photoshop manipulation. Visual masturbation.

Gingkos On Pavement

A friend once told me that you will live forever if you find a Ginko leaf growing in the shape of a funnel. These ginko leaves are not shaped like funnels. They will not live forever. They will have to settle for looking nice against the asphalt.

Fall Finale

What can be said about fall? Nothing that fall gives two hoots about I am sure.

First Snow - Nov. 2005

I will look back on this picture and wonder why I took it. But right now the flakes are beautiful. Some of them are the size of...of...of...well, large fluffy snowflakes.

Rejeanne's Chicken

RDA, my life partner and wife, made this chicken. The chicken is plain. RDA is not

Dr. Science - Stone People's Life Cycle

Stages of the Stone People’s Life Cycle
(© Dr. Science)

The chart above depicts the life cycle of the Stone People, creatures I first discovered while on a trip to Japan. Dr. Science is a person who lives in my head and thinks that he knows a lot. Email me if you have more interest in the Stone People, and Dr. Science. I have more of their adventures available to those who are interested in this sort of thing.

The following describes the contents of the pictures on Dr. Science's chart. You may want to print out a copy of the chart to look at as you read the text. It will make things clearer.

1. Vacancy: This stage in the cycle is not comprehensible by humans. Stone People themselves only grasp it dimly - they are conscious of themselves during the vacancy stage but are not cognizant of their surroundings. A black hole is the closest humans have come to understanding the state called vacancy.
2. Particles: Similar to Black Holes, the vacancy emits streams of radiation containing sub-atomic particles. Humans have begun to define these particles using super colliders. The Stone People enjoy being particles very much – while in this state they are able to freely disappear and reappear and change their composition at will. Also, the bounds of time do not apply to them while they are in this state.
3. Hydrogen: Some particles combine to form protons and electrons which are the basis for the hydrogen atom. Hydrogen is the basic building block of our universe. The Stone People do not like this state. While they are hydrogen, their consciousness is bound to the hydrogen atom and hydrogen has very little going on. Hydrogen is atomic monogamy - one proton and one electron. That is why it is so anxious to turn into something else.
4. Sun: The heat and gravity of the Sun (or suns) fuse the hydrogen atoms into progressively heavier and heavier elements. The Stone People like being in this stage. They say it is like visiting Florida after spending a cold winter in outer space.
5. Elements: The elements humans have defined in their periodic table are but a few of the total elements available for the Stone People to inhabit. Ever the jokester, Mr. Science draws cartoons to represent the elements that are not known to humans.
6. Our Universe/Life: This is the Stone People’s favorite stage. While here they can physically change their shape into any form of life currently hanging around. Further, they can migrate between our universe and the infinite other universes available. They inhabit a multi-verse. They have the freedom they had in the particle state plus the pleasure of interacting with an infinite variety of other conscious life. Additionally, while in this stage the Stone People get to play the role of gods with humans. They try to guide us with people like Zoroaster, Moses, Krishna, Jesus, Buddha and the like but we are stubborn and refuse to relax. We keep trying to figure things out. The Stone People are touched by our child-like insistence on placing ourselves at the center of everything and seeing ourselves as the most important beings in all dimensions for all time. The Stone People don’t understand us but they love us anyway.
7. Decomposition: Strictly speaking, decomposition begins for the Stone People (and us humans) as soon as they enter this universe and life. The Stone People (and some humans) do not fear this process. They simply see it as a natural transition to the next stage. The Stone People do not understand the tragedy of Hamlet, for them it is like a Monty Python skit. When they read the line, “Alas, poor Yorick!” in Hamlet, they crack up.
8. Atoms: In this stage, the form Stone People inhabited in this world returns to atoms and eventually to boring hydrogen once more.
9. Particles: In this stage, the Stone People get one last chance to party before returning to the mystery of vacancy (see stage one). It is sort of like New Year’s Eve for them.
   

Picture of Nothing

This was a picture of a leaf. Then I used the sharpen and bas-relief filters in Adobe Photoshop. Now it is a picture of nothing. Still, I find it pretty to look at.

Minnesotan Sleeper

I saw this man at a coffee shop in Minnesota. He tried and tried but he could not stay awake. It was around lunch time. I guess he should have had the expresso.

Purple Flower

This flower exists only on paper. I hope that it does not experience identity theft.

Eggs In Blue

Smelling eggs is not fun. Eating them is.

Self Portrait

A self portrait. Not very attractive I must say. I must have had gas that day.

Dancing Shoes

Long ago I danced. I seem to have forgotten how. The shoes appeared in my head as I was walking one morning. They seemed to want to dance. I put them on paper. Perhaps they will dance soon. Perhaps I will dance before they do.

RDA Rose

This rose decided to be pink. I do not know why. Because it made the choice for pink it is now immortalized on the internet.

RDA Leaves Part Deux

Leaves for RDA

REPOST from July 20 - Dream

My pictures are done with ink pens on archival paper. Most of the time, like with this picture, I simply start making dots and let them go where they will. I sometimes sketch out the image in pencil before beginning and then erase the pencil after I have captured the image in ink.

The originals generally are 8.5"x11". It takes anywhere from a few thousand to over 1 million dots (an average of 100 dots per minute) to fill a page.

If you like the image use it as you wish. I like hearing from people who use my pictures - mailto:daleshankins@yahoo.com

Toronto Lady

Another Iowa City day. I saw this lady in Toronto and brought her home. She has difficulty with cars.

Strange Leaves

Fall Weeds

These blond weeds knew they were posing for a picture. I told them several times. Despite this they allowed an ugly stick to jump in front of them.

Patches and Romeo

Something witty was supposed to be written here but it was not. Our cats, Patches and Romeo, looked very hard for the witty saying but they could not find it.