good day to grow old

for my birthday in the woods i decided to venture west and explore the coast a little. i had heard trinidad was a cool little place and patricks point was not to be missed. i always wanted to go to redwoods national park so i packed up and off we drove down the windy mountain road to where people were. Ahhhhh!
i bought a latte somewhere in between and damn was it delicious! deprivation makes endulgance so much sweeter!!! slowed for a deer in the road and a super sexy '49 chevy truck and eventually made it to trinidad. the coast here reminded me a lot of oregon's. it was beautiful but tough. bella and i played ball on the beach and then went for a little hike. i searched for a smokehouse on the way out of town and wouldn't you know-it was closed.
back on the road towards big reds stopping at the outrageously priced and un-dog friendly patricks point just to make the ranger giggle. should've stopped at college cove but went on to a real nice part of the rednp for some explorin'.
it was amazing and wonderful with ghostly tree trunks and quiet for miles. i took lots of boring photos and looked for bugs. the day was already almost over. on the way out of prarie creek i stopped at a little store/cafe and god damn if they didn't have smoked salmon! the owner felt like family and she swooned at bella and we talked about her sons woodwork in the room next door and how i should move there. we shared my salmon and i eventually left. last stop-the movies.
there was a really great old theatre in town and i was just in time for zombieland! i got my popcorn, milk duds, and even cherry coke!!!! and climbed the stairs to the balcony. i sat up there all by myself, feet up, burping if i wanted to. i was so happy. i bought myself a new book and called it a day. a good birthday.

good day to grow old part 2

i love this shirt

THE LEONID METEOR SHOWER IS TONIGHT!!
out of the constellation of leo comes the cosmic garbage you can ooooh and ahhhhhh at for hours.
i'm really excited!
the last shower i saw was the persied a couple years ago-we rolled up blankets and joints and felt like kids again.
can't wait.

loved this really secluded spot in sequioa np. i hiked a small ways to a camp site and had nightmares of bears and starting the forrest on fire the first night!! got settled and drunk by the next night and was feeling pretty happy to be there and doing it all on my own. it was beautiful. it was quiet. my alchohol stove worked rad and everything else was perfect too. of course this couldn't last all that long and on my way back from a hike with big white i picked up a towel from the car and oh shit, locked the keys inside! fucking dumb ass! called myself some other names, i cried, i yelled, i was completely defeated. for the first time this whole trip i had to go ask someone for help. i hiked to the rangers station, told the old timer with the fancy hat what i did and just stood there as he gave me this blank stare and no response. "do you have a slim jim?" i finally asked him. this guy was no help. i don't even think he knew what a slim jim was. he gave me the AAA option which was pretty funny but when i asked him if he had any coat hangers and he returned with a plastic white one, i was rolling. not really. was this guy for real?! thank god he had a metal hanger and thank god i figured out how to open my fucking door with it becuase i was pretty screwed otherwise. i drank an extra beer that night and returned the hanger like he had asked. the look on his face-quality!

first stop

cold springs- mineral king-sequoia national park

why'd they have to call 'em earth ships!?
i want to build a house like this but, i would call it- mother womb.
http://www.earthship.net/home/begin-here.html

thinking of you

gettin dirty

just got a cool new plant as a present. i always thought this was a peperomia or "watermelon" plant. it's not. it's a prayer plant (maranta leuconeura) and is called so because at night the leaves lay vertical and during the day they lay horizontal-get it?! they kind of fold up in prayer. well the technical term for this is photonasty. hilarious.
oh and i finally found out the name of another favorite of mine-silver skies. aint that purty

"there's a country spread out in the sky,
a credulous carpet of rainbows
and crepuscular plants:
I move toward it just a bit haggardly,
trampling a gravedigger's rubble still moist from the spade
to dream in a bedlam of vegetables."

pablo neruda-one of my favorite poets.

smile.

random...

recent...

adventures.

best afternoon ever
(that would be my JAWA, his triumph would be at home)!

owen makes life pretty

A Record Of Life from Owen Gatley on Vimeo.

i kinda fucked up my blog. guess i still am a ludite. help me tom!

green porno

i've been meaning to put one of these up forever. hilarious. weird. informative. watch some more on the sundance channel site!

my new buddy has been hanging out on my finger all day. i found it struggling in the middle of the sidewalk so i picked it up and just watched it for a while. when you get the chance to see something so close up you should look. its got a little face with big eyes, hooks on the end of its legs, tiny blonde hairs all along its elytra, and the most gentle mannerisms. needless to say, it ended up coming home with me. that was yesterday. this morning i found it still struggling but out of the plant i put it in and across the room. i thought it might be thirsty and spent the next half hour dipping my finger in droplets of water and watching these itsy bitsy, orange, paint brush-like mouth parts come out from in-between the mandibles. like two tiny brooms it swept up the water over and over again. parched little bugger. its been clinging onto one part or another of my hand all day. it won’t let go and it can’t fly away. its on my left middle finger as i type these words. cleo’s asleep on my lap and bella’s snoring at my feet. i know it will die soon but for now it’s kinda nice to have it around-alive.

another finally!

thanks to the fire lit under my ass by a certain special someone, i'm finally making one of my stories into a little book. i'm so excited! i can't draw worth a shit but i have other "talents" to nurture the manifestation. i'll keep you posted on an individual tip since none of you bastards ever leave me comments on here. you might even get one if you're lucky or if you're unlucky and gorgeous.
xoxo

good morning! well not such a good one for this little critter

finally!!

the steel head are on their way and so am i!!! up to northern california for a few months to really expand my collection!!
camping along the way through trees and ground i've never played on. just bella and me. like the good old days before i moved to san diego. adios! i might not come back. not if this guys gonna be there!

see my bed?

the most beautiful telephone poles

st. petersburg

froggie

bella sniffed this little one out on an early morning walk yeterday. i couldn't believe it was a frog-just lying there on the sidewalk.
when i picked it up to move it under a bush to die it kind of moved a bit and i thought for a minute that maybe i could save it. of course it died in my hand on the way back to the house and now it's drying up in the closet. isn't it purty?! the vivid green and white has since turned to brown and its eyes have begun to recede becuase i didn't have time to stuff it with sand and coat it with varnish but i'm okay with that. i did do the prep work and take the guts out but i didn't really want to mess with it anymore so now it looks like this.

inbetween the lines

at comic con this year i added to my collection these two hand colored pages from the 19th century (torn out of books in order to sell individually-frown and shake). the fly is great isn't it? i love the color and detail and the way it kind of commands the page. it's a predatory fly with thousands of different species and with some the male will capture its prey, wrap it in silk and present it to a female as a pre-coitus offering. hey baby! even though i know i'm so wrong for anthropomorphizing i can't help it-that's just so awesome!
the jackal if you notice is in a graveyard. i was having a really hard time choosing between all of the wonderful animals represented but the graveyard scene in the background was so unique i just kept going back to it and eventually chose it. as it turns out, the jackal was a very important god of the dead to the egyptians and was named anubis-predesessor to osiris. fucking rad! i love this stuff.

when times are tough just listen to some music. someone out there knows what you're feeling.