DISMEMBERMENT AND EVISCERATION

I found a large dead bird lying on the kitchen table today. All the feathers had been removed, as well as the head/neck and feet. Strange.

I noticed that there was a large gaping hole in the abdomen. Being the curious type, I reached in and WHAT DID I FIND? Whoever mutilated this bird decided to STUFF THINGS BACK INSIDE the empty abdomen. Good Lord. I found a heart, a liver, a pair of kidneys, and HOLY COW I even found the creature's NECK.

What kind of twisted person cuts off an animal's neck and then stuffs it inside the eviscerated abdomen? And what the hell is up with those organs stuffed back in there? When humans are autopsied, it is common practice to remove organs and then replace them in the body. Was this bird mutilation the work of a disgruntled mortician or autopsy specialist?

I am now hiding in my room. I could be next on the list. But what is that smell? Mmmmmm...smells good. Something roasting. Dare I venture into the kitchen of mutilation again?

My cat Spooky is having a fun Thanksgiving morning. She is chasing my Roomba robotic vacuum all around my apartment. This is perfect. I'm relaxing, drinking coffee, having my floor cleaned, and being entertained...all at once. Maybe I shall try coating the Roomba with catnip spray next. Oh yes.

First real snow of the season here in Boston today. Sticky and thick, it clings to all the tiny branches of each tree like cake batter. Picture of the view from my deck and one of myself while walking through the streets.

I brought my favorite candy outside with me. See pic. They are violet flavored. Yes, violet is a flavor. It is also a flower. And a color. I think "violet" is the only word that is a flavor, a color, and a plant.

Oh wait. So is Orange.

The taste of violets in my mouth and the smell of falling snow. Excellent.

BTW, I drive a Mac. OSX Jaguar rocks my digital world.

Webcam. Definitely. Just plug a cheapo analog camera into the BNC video-in on that baby and you're in business.

Tricky part is...finding something worthwhile to point the webcam at.

I suggest a coed dorm.

Visiting the Alamo in San Antonio today. I wanted to blend with the locals, so I purchased a Dan'l Boone hat and wore my Sin 13 T-shirt. Unfortunately, I am still somehow identified as a stranger in this strange land.

It is a strange place, the Alamo. First of all, it is small. Very small. Maybe human beings were tinier a few hundred years ago, like mini-Texans. Second, there are Koi at the Alamo. Koi are Japanese ornamental carp. There are Koi in the small moat around the Alamo. Why? Are these man-eating (or, at least, ill-tempered) guard fish, so that when intruders attempting to invade the fort stumble into the moat they are bitten (or sucked, since Koi have no teeth) to death? Why Koi? Why not good ol' American electric catfish? I fear I will never find the answer.

My t-shirt, purchased at the club last nite, was the last one hanging on the wall. It was probably hanging there for months. Which is why, now that I am wearing it, it smells like I am still sitting in the middle of the club. Strange mix of cigarette smoke, musty air, and faint raspy scents of alcohol and loud music. Somehow very comforting.

I must go now. I have to find the basement in the Alamo. I pray I find it in time...

Polly Esthers in San Antonio wore thin pretty quickly. Kind of like the "Hard Rock Cafe" of dance clubs. Generic. Full of people trying WAY too hard to "get down."

Pulled out the Sidekick, did some surfing, and found a club that sounded exactly like my kind of place. Sin 13. Got directions. Jetted out and BAM, I'm in a fantastic little club with some live bands playing and excellent ambiance. Best band I heard was "Man Alive." Bought their CD. Ripping it right now and uploading it to my iPod so I can listen to it on my plane home to Boston tomorrow afternoon.

Some interesting pix. Me in the Sin 13 bathroom, which is covered in sheet metal. A pic of the Sin 13 logo on a T-shirt that I purchased from a friendly bartender. Obligatory murky pic of the club.

Coolest bit is that the club has a whole wall covered with little drawings that people have made of the club logo (a black cat with wings). Whipped out a sharpie and drew my version. Got a pic of it. Signed it "-C0" and wrote "BAD KITTY" on the top. If you're ever at Sin 13, look for it on the wall near the entrance, and you'll see that I was indeed there and left my mark...

Sin 13 website: http://www.sin13.com

Man Alive website: http://www.man-alive.com

Four murky images of the San Antonio nitelife, shot from the terrace of and inside the dance club "Polly Esthers."

Jello shots. Cheap beer. Spinning lites. Overactive smoke machine. No matter where you go, there you are.

A small broken antique bowl that was reconstructed like a delicate three dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Beautiful.

My hotel in San Antonio, the Fairmount, has a strange history. Even though it is a relatively small hotel, it is the largest building ever "moved" in the world. See the picture of it being towed by trucks.

The 3-story brick Hotel Fairmount (built 1906) in San Antonio, Texas, which weighed 3,200,000 lbs, was moved on 36 dollies with pneumatic tires over city streets approximately 6 blocks over a bridge, which had to be reinforced. The move took 6 days, beginning March 30, 1985, and cost $650,000. The final site of the historic hotel, restored at a cost of about $4 million, is 3 blocks south of the landmark The Alamo.

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I followed a small river. At the end, I found a small village (in Spanish, named "Timy Village"). There, I found a small cactus sitting alone on a deserted table. San Antonio is full of the Small and Strange...