Halloween, it seems, has come upon us.

May I suggest, for your reading pleasure, a favorite ghost story:

Number 13

by M.R. James

Courtesy of The Literary Gothic

And please remember, be careful this time of year- this night in particular - when other worlds draw near.

Travel, if you must travel at all, in pairs and never alone - for there are those who wander the dark without skin or bone, but always hungry for each.

This Sunday, 11/3, will find us back in Big Sur. The Top Antique at Deetjen's awaits.

A few days away, communing with Redwoods, The Sea, Mountains and she who showed me that Love was not only real but essential.

Quote of the moment:

. . . We Shrieks are well pleased with our record, (this side of smugness and occasionally the other) and we obviously hope you will buy it voraciously. But we also want to leave you with an intimation that the universe, all its horrors nonwithstanding, is strange and marvellous; that love is the law and the drug and the pull and the push of all we do; that the pursuit of beauty is useful, honourable, and healing; and that our actions in this time, in choosing forgiveness over vendetta, brilliance over mediocrity, the clean difficult way over the dubious easy option, will determine whether or not we will realise the wealth of possibilities implicit in our existance.

- SHRIEKBACK, LONDON AUGUST '86 -

Just so.

I've got a secret treasure,
it's got a secret shine
and you never will see it
because it's mine, all mine.

I found my secret treasure
in the far fields one day,
clutched in the beak of a great black crow
hung downside up and gently a-sway

at the end of a red silk sash
pinned by a thorn to a wise oak tree.
My treasure gleamed! My treasure Shone!
My treasure whispered, "Return with me. . ."

". . . across these fields to the world of men,
evermore a world apart
if you swallow me now and allow me to burn
beside your beating heart."

So it was I picked my treasure
from the maw of that dead black crow
and returned to the world of men
from fields you will never know,

my treasure shining upon my tongue,
illuming the deep, dark middle of me -
a secret glow, a glorious light
that none will ever see.

The Reasons Why

by

Richard Cody

For

Sarah Cody

No. 3

I love you because
your blue eyes shine!

Faerie glow!
Heaven�s stolen Fire!
Eternal Light that has inspired
talents far grander than mine.

You ought to have symphonies spelling out your name,
portraits painted by genius hands
in honor of that flame

which burns forever bright.

You, my Love, deserve poetry of the rarest air.

I give you this instead
and in my dreams write with ease
lines worthy of your light.

Ugh!

Schwarzenegger Wins Big

- via SF Gate -

But not, I'm happy to report, in my backyard:

Bay Area doesn't follow the state trend
Recall of governor losing by wide margin as 8 of 9 counties vote to keep Davis

- via SF Gate -

Sarah and myself will be heading to the polls bright and early tomorrow to throw our collective 4 cents into the historic California fiasco, mockery of democracy, recall election.

What I wrote regarding the candidates prior to the actual election back in November of last year remains true today (despite the fact that the list of would be governors has changed and swollen to some 135 candidates):

. . .I shudder at the thought of Republican Bill Simon gaining the governor's seat and, fearful that a vote for a third party candidate will only aid Simon at this point in time, I find myself leaning toward Gray Davis - the Democrat incumbent whom I would rather not endorse but must if I would prevent a Republican stranglehold on this country. . .

Right now, of course, I am shuddering at the thought of waking up Wednesday morning to find Arnold Schwarzenegger governor of the Golden State.

Leak probe likely to expand beyond White House, CIA, officials say

. . . In Congress, Democrats and Republicans sparred over whether a special counsel should be appointed to investigate. Democrats contend an agency headed by Bush appointees cannot adequately investigate the administration. Republicans have labeled that claim politically motivated. . .

- CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer via SF Gate -

Certainly there can be little or no doubt that the Democratic call for a special investigatory counsel is largely politically motivated. This is a rich accusation, however, coming from The GOP. Are we to believe, for instance, that if the parties were reversed in this situation, The Republicans would not be clamoring for a special counsel? Clearly this is a spurious argument. Anybody with two working brain cells can see that there is a conflict of interest in having Bush appointed officials investigate the Bush Administration. According to an An ABC-Washington Post poll referenced in the article linked above I am not alone in this opinion.

An ABC-Washington Post poll found 69 percent of Americans, including 52 percent of Republicans, believe a special counsel should be appointed. A substantial majority, 72 percent, said it's likely that someone in the White House leaked the classified information. . .

Not that I'm given to quoting polls, typically taking all such numbers with a grain or two of salt and keeping in mind the famous quote attributed by Mark Twain to Benjamin Disraeli:

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.

But this is a digression. I'll let the folks at MoveOn.org pull me back to the cenral fact at issue in this post - and I will urge you, dear reader (if you are a U.S. citizen and, like me, you are ashamed to admit that for fear of being associated with the liars, war mongers and greedy opportunists currently sitting in The White House) to add your name to their call for a special prosecutor at the link below:

Investigate the White House

According to the Washington Post, "two top White House officials" committed a high crime in the first weeks of July. They handed over the identity of an American secret agent to journalists. Republicans contend that an investigation by the Justice Department will reveal any wrongdoing. But Justice Department chief John Ashcroft -- who was appointed by President Bush and who employed key Bush advisor Karl Rove -- is hardly neutral. If we don't speak up now, the investigation could be left in John Ashcroft's hands, and the perpetrators and the crime could be swept under the rug. That's why we believe:

"Attorney General Ashcroft must appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the White House's role in revealing an undercover CIA agent's identity. This act was a breach of national security and a felony and should be investigated by an independent party."

Please join us. . . We'll send your comments to John Ashcroft and your representatives in Congress at important times during our campaign.

- MoveOn.org -