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| FRANZ KAFKA |
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
3 Imperfect Reasons KAFKA-ESQUE Is Such A Popular Word
Monday, May 27, 2024
Five Takeaways From My Seventy-Fifth Birthday
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1.
No one has ever done
more for a Paul Oliverio
birthday than Mrs. CarPeo
did for my 75th Birthday.
We had a spectacular
meal at the most
exclusive steakhouse
in downtown
Long Beach.
Above and beyond her
monthly rent,
she gave me
a "Bonus Check"
significantly reducing stress
associated with
property tax, HOA dues
and never-say-die
special assessment.
I now have a pair
of red sneakers
and a new set of
quality sweat socks.
She got us a scrumptious
almond raisin crumb
"Second Birthday Cake"
arriving eight days after
the actual birthday cake.
***
***
2.
The first two words
entitling this page
are near and dear
to my sports-aholic
mentality.
Hardly a sports event
happens where its conclusion
is not met with
an essay proclaiming
FIVE TAKEAWAYS
It is as if
the masters of the universe
declared
"Give them a number
that rhymes with JIVE
and we will have them hooked."
3.
My age is now
one year from
birthday number 76,
when as many trombones
will wail its arrival.
4.
If it delivers
a shock to the system
that a desirable page
of this blog
has nothing to do with
any other page
all I can say is
So Be It
5.
The V in SeVenty-five
stands for Vanity.
Otherwise
I would not end this page
with a racial statement:
Is the person
in the photo below
White, Black, or Latino?
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BARBARA KINGSOLVER Book Review ... The Poisonwood Bible
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This is a stunningly
delicious novel
with short chapters
and 5 narrators:
the wife + 4 daughters
of a fire and brimstone
missionary
determined to tattoo
the name “Jesus”
on the skull and bones
of every native
in the Congo
© OLIVERIO ©
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From The Private Art Collection Of ... DOCTOR RORSCHACH
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| JAVA STANIA |
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Sunday, May 26, 2024
PhotoVerio #741: Firehose
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| © Oliverio Burbank 2010 |
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PhotoVerio #740: Geometry Of Power Lines
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| © Oliverio Burbank 2010 |
Saturday, May 25, 2024
Plain Words Posted 2 Days Before 130th Birthday Of ... DASH
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The favorite words
of the plain man
are those
which enable him
to speak without thinking
***
born
May 27, 1894
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Introducing MISTER ATTRIBUTO
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The world has always been crazy
but now America
has joined
the asylum
***
ARTURO ATTRIBUTO
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Thursday, May 23, 2024
The Immeasurable Respect Of This Inquiring Mind
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Despite periodic episodes
of excessive enthusiam
with their nightsticks
in the vicinity
of iPhones,
my respect
for law enforcement
has no boundaries
In four different states
across the nation,
some officers know me as
Bookie or Bookman
because I am rarely seen
in public without
a book to read
For me,
there is no end to
reading novels
related to crime
and its' aftermath
Some officers know me as
Blabby
because my mouth
runneth over
unless circumstances
demand otherwise
I could bore you to death
with a list of authors
mastering the art of
Crime Fiction
so I'll keep the list short
and wish you a Happy Google:
Wambaugh, Grafton, Hammett,
Trevanian, Chandler
...
...
But the curious reader of
such fiction naturally
asks:
Which author is most preferred
by professional crime stoppers?
Today
a Long Beach police officer
gave me what is probably
the most common answer
police of any city or town
would give:
NONE YOU COULD NAME
BECAUSE READING
THEIR BOOKS WOULD BE
LIKE TAKING MY WORK
HOME WITH ME
WHEN I NEED TO DO
THE EXACT OPPOSITE
Surely that is not
a literary answer
but
undoubtedly
it is the most accurate
answer
👮👮👮
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Her Job Security Was Guaranteed
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For our purposes,
her name is "Sarafina Scarpa"
She was a curator
at the
Museum of Modern Art
in New York City
Thirty years on the same job
guaranteed more than
anything else that
Sarafina could never be
dismissed from her
position
A recent exhibit
was entitled
20th Century European
Abstract Art
Most of the artists featured
were familiar to
art connisseurs
But the piece
that received the most praise
was attributed to
a Scottish artist named
GUTHRINA ROBESING
In truth,
no such artist existed
and neither did
any questions
concerning provenance
of the painting posted below
Therefore,
this blogger
claims copyright status
which forthrightly
belongs to
his smarter
(and infinitely superior)
partner-in-blog
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| © Oliverio |
When Trespassing Is A Nuclear Crime
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***
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| © Oliverio ≈1975 |
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Page Two Of Two ... Bridging The Dedication To TUBBY
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are secure enough
to make the comfort level
of
immeasurable
The Whoosh Whoosh
of cars crossing
directly above
the basketball court
provides a cosmic
sound effect
to their game
The Whoosh Whoosh
of full length
tractor trailers
crossing directly above
adds exclamation marks
to their game
connecting Long Island
to continental land
of the United States
are too numerous
to mention
But only one of them
was constructed
within a similar timeframe
to a suspension bridge
on the western coastline
of the United States
The Whitestone Bridge
(1937)
and the
(1938)
initiated construction
in consecutive years
The former is also known as
"the Bronx/Whitestone Bridge"
The latter is also known as
You can either use
your imagination
or click on
that hyperlink
to see
what became of
The Tacoma-Narrows Bridge
The only fatality of
that collapsed bridge
was a dog named
© Oliverio ©
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Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Page One Of Two ... Bridging The Dedication To TUBBY
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The dedication has nothing to do
with the hoopsters in Whitestone Park
It has to do with the solidity,
safety and security reinforced by
the Whitestone Bridge,
despite the scribble
tattooed to its' support beam
+
What happened to another suspension bridge
in a town called Tacoma
-
hyperlinks on the other half
of this dedication
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Quoting Groucho's Fifth Brother ... Gigi Marx
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The man who
has no memory
makes one out
of paper
***
***
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Monday, May 20, 2024
Modern Russian Ring Dance
Sunday, May 19, 2024
My Antonio ... At The School Named For A Confederate General
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A self-desrribed chollo,
Antonio Villa____ told me
that three of his California cousins
were students of mine
at Jefferson High School
in South-Central
Los Angeles
I correctly named
the street gangs
his chollo cousins were
associated with
but we both knew
we were BS-ing
each other
Three months after retiring
at the ripe age of 55
—the year was 2004—
I both moved to Virginia
and got a Math position
—for the next school year—
at
in Rockingham County
Mr. Ashby had been
a Confederate General
and the primary means
of income
in Rockingham County
was poultry processing
As another student described it:
"Chickens are no longer beheaded,
they are processed."
Latinos at Turner Ashby
accounted for less than
one percent of the
student population
Caucasians comprised 98.7%
of the faculty
Three black or Latino teachers
were all in "Special Ed"
The other faculty/staff
of Turner Ashby were
of Asian descent
My sister's four children
all graduated with honors
from
—also in Rockingham County—
My eldest niece
described Samuel Spotswood
as a "Procurer"
during the Civil War
and the school's secret nickname
was the "PIMPles"
The secret logo
featured big-bottomed girls
in the 19th Century
equivalent of
"Hot Pants"
The mixed-case spelling
of the secret nickname
was exactly
as my niece described
Antonio Villa_____
was a mediocre Math student
of mine
until his other teachers
willingly issued him
bathroom passes
Those passes were for
almost entire period lengths
during which
Antonio "hung out"
in Mr. Oliverio's
classroom
By Christmas,
Antonio had the highest
grade scores in
his Algebra class
Before Easter,
he had learned everything
an Algebra II student
needed to know
But pre-Calculus
was learned entirely
on his own
because Oliverio
was incapable
of teaching it
All I did was
provide textbooks
either stolen from the school
or purchased at
my own expense
The last correspondence
I had from Antonio
was in 2010
by which time
I relocated to Long Beach
He was about to become
the first Latino
full professor
in the Math Department
at the
The school was designed by
who doubled as
a President of
the United States
Honestly,
I have no idea
of what a "full professor"
is
BUT
—like I previously said about Malcolm X—
I love you Antonio
However
that is an incomplete statement
because it has nothing to do
with my sexual preference
The complete statement is
I love you Antonio FLL
[ditto for Malcolm X]
I love you FuckLessLy
© Oliverio ©
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On Your 99th Birthday, I Love You Malcolm X ... Despite ...
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The horrifying playoff defeat
of the team
I have cherished
since Richie Guerin,
Cleveland Buckner,
and Willie Naulls
each scored thirty points
but a guy
on the other team named
scored 100 points
at a high school gym
in Hershey, Pennsylvania
But in the words of philosopher
I WILL SURVIVE
Rather than the voice
of the philosopher
you will here the voice the
a/k/a
Lisa Kudrow
In that dubious concept
we call REALITY,
she had the highest IQ
of all the actors
on that show
However,
if you see me tomorrow
and I am screaming in pain,
please ignore me
and do not call
for an ambulance
Beware
the deleteable advert
and remember to say
"Wait till next year."
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY #99
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was born
ninety-nine years ago today
and
in his honor
there will be a parade
beginning
at
Madison Square Garden
when
make mincemeat of
some ballers
from Indiana
The parade leader
is pictured below
but first
I copyrightedly say
New Yorkers will like
when we
put a spike
in its place
burying pace-rs
It will be nice
to serve them
on ice
All over Manhattan,
the riot police
will be on full alert
—if and only if—
they are not
wearing their
dancing boots
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Saturday, May 18, 2024
Pixilated + Poetically Potent Palabras With English Translation
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| A Closed Book Never Makes A Scholar |
Palabras = Words
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Paul Gretschel + The Paul He Introduced To California [1968]
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Somewhere in Colorado
on Interstate 40
I preferred finger-pointing
to finger painting
but not always
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Friday, May 17, 2024
PhotoVerio #739: African Iris With Double Vision
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| © Oliverio |
Thursday, May 16, 2024
TO WHOM THIS GOfATHER BLOG IS DEDICATED
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| © |
You did such a masterful job
of whispering C+F+G
across the room
that fellow passengers
aboard the Queen Mary
thought we were
"the house band"
with one cutie pie actually
dancing a jig
to a dulcimer blues
duet
[the year was 2002]
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