Notes from May/June 2007: Alma brought in Lychee Fruit to the office one day, something with a skin like a komodo Dragon and a core of white sopping flesh. Carlos announced that he was leaving to go work for Stanford Medical Center. Krystal received her Masters Degree. Obaid informed me that the husband of his sister in Afghastan was killed last month in a suicide bombing when he went to the market. Late June we received word that Bill Gaffney had died. Kathy Jung returned from a conference in Boston which she attended with several other administrators only to tell me how they all got sloshed in the bar every evening. One evening I dined with Gerardo from Guanajuato, tapas and sangria, on la Calle de Valencia. Spain has castles and the influence of the Moors, Gerardo explained, telling what sets Mexico apart from Spain. He told me if he was to live in Spain, he would live in Avila. I thought to myself, that I want to create my own Avila here – and so I’ve been looking at California Spanish architecture – and of course it requires a swimming pool because, at last, the hot weather has arrived and I’m ready to get sopping wet. (jah 6/14/07)

O, starry night of good omen,
When drunkard mounted drunkard,
We whiled away the time in worship to the Devil,
With fervent faith,
Until the monks rang death’s bell and dawn,
And the young lad took off, dragging his delightful robe
Touched by my impure desire.
“Woe is me,” he said through his tears,
“You have torn away the dignity I had long treasured.”
“A lion saw a gazelle and lunged at it,” said I,
“Such are the vagaries of fate.” abu nuwas

I die of love for him, perfect in every way,
Lost in the strains of wafting music.
My eyes are fixed upon his delightful body
And I do not wonder at his beauty.
His waist is a sapling, his face a moon,
And loveliness rolls off his rosy cheek
I die of love for you, but keep this secret:
The tie that binds us is an unbreakable rope.
How much time did your creation take, O angel?
So what! All I want is to sing your praises. abu nuwas

O,

It was the age of henequen
In an end of life town
You wrote your life down
On orange Bristol paper.

Even under a palapa
You could not escape me
Sand in your huaraches.

Bright, bright blood orange paper
Reflecting the sun
An advertisement for a Jewish dating club
A tarnished Kiddush cup. (jah/6/5/2007)

When I was a boy I went to Disneyland and I remember that in Tomorrowland one could find "Adventures in Inner Space," a world of adventure sponsored by Monsato. Monsato also sponsored Disneyland's House of the Future. Through these exhibits, Monsato Corporation became synonimous with something decent and good. The fact is, however, there is probably no other company that is doing more to endanger the health of this planet and its inhabitants than Monsanto. Besides being a company that openly supported the nazis, they are also responsible for one ecological catastrophe after another - DDT, Agent Orange, rGBH, dioxin, and PCBs. Their products include Aspartame, Nutrasweet, Equal, RoundUp and milk products tainted with BgH. And speaking of Nazi-friendly companies, Bayer Aspirin is made by Bayer Corporation which was originally the I.G. Farben Company that produced Zyklon-B gas which used in the Nazi death camps. It's time to toss those pills down the toilet. (jah/june 4, 2007)