BOO!

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!

Ha HA HAAAA!


WowEEE

Yikes

Awwwww!

Ooooooooh

TeeHeeHee

SHARK!

Ooops, too late

Mmmmm, fresh pepitas!

Hope y'all have fun!

IT'S A SIGN!

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all..."

And the signs are everywhere.

Signs of intelligent life.

On my last few bike rides through the tree canopied byways of Montecito I have included a little game: counting political posters and bumper stickers. The unofficial tally is roughly 20 to 1 in favor of Obama/Biden over the Republican ticket. So I have decided to honor these brave souls with a gallery of gates. Hopefully it will gladden your heart as it has mine.

Here in front of a very modern Frank Lloyd Wright sort of design

Now why should these displays be so noteworthy? Well, if you haven't heard, the community of Montecito is not merely one of the wealthiest in California, or the US, but in the world. This is the land of estates, acreage, the loooooong driveway/private road and the solemn guard gate. Big, huge, sexy, MONEY by the bushel-basketful . Entry level home ownership starts at $3 mil. This should be a Republican stronghold. Not only that, but this idyllic enclave has a reputation for being reclusive, exclusive, tight lipped and PRIVATE with a 'talk to the intercom' sort of attitude. To declare one's political leanings with a yard sign, especially those that proclaim 'we don't fit the mold' is downright radical. So how can I help but celebrate them!

Atop a loooooong hedgerow

Many of the homes have put out great Halloween decorations

Though hard to see, this is a very handsome gate

One for the road

Oh, one more. I tell ya they just keep comin'!

For those that may think the revelation of my own choice for 2008 here on my blog a little imprudent, I think that cat was already out of the bag. I'm an ARTIST. My clients probably suspect I'm a raving liberal. I'm waiting for November 4th like a four-year-old waits for Santa Claus.

Last but certainly no less important, the signs for equal rights
NO ON PROP 8! Gay and Lesbian couples should KEEP their right to marry.

You have to love these people. These two photos are of the same property.
They used the "No On Prop 8" signs like landscape décor.

This entry boasted no affiliation whatsoever buts earns a place because they grow amazing hydrangeas and I know the kids will love it on Friday night

Whatever you believe, with all my heart I HOPE you get out there next Tuesday and vote.

An update on my tasty critter friends whose numbers are rapidly dwindling nationwide as I write.

Goodbye Mr. Orange Halloween Edition Hippo (or is that a rhino?)!

Smile, darn ya, Smile!

Urban Wildlife

"Hand over the Mother's Circus Animal Cookies or you'll never see Eli again!"

Mr. Raccoon here, whose lovely wife was behind him in the dark, is as big as the average footstool - about 3x the size of my cat.

Endangered Species

For those of you who don't know (too bad if you don't care; you're out numbered) Mother's Cookies of Oakland California has shut it doors FOREVER which means NO MORE pink rhino cookies, or blue camels, or red lions, or orange elephants with sprinkles! Waaaaah!

crustulum matris bestia circus (leo) rufus

crustulum matris bestia circus (camelus) peteulanus

Women weeping at the Palace of Fine Art at the thought of a world without Mother's Cookies.

The long silence simply means that my head has been preoccupied with empire building, which has hit a few snags of late. But I refuse to accept any reality other than "onward and upward"!

There has also been a lot of cycling my butt off.

Ascending great heights.

And working on my little illustration-esque tarot designs and putting them on canvas.

Eli is making new friends and sending the local rodents to their 'great reward' even without the majority of his teeth.

I've learned a lot about adaptation and perseverance from that little furbrain!

How does the bumble bee fly? Because it thinks it can. BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ!

Over, under, around or through, we will get there.