J.B. Sommerset

"Up in the woods" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 Sometimes I like to do "stream of consciousness" exercises. I often write these down, and over the years I have amassed quite collection of notebooks full of disconnected pages with no direction or format. Some share themes, others share forms, but there is very little that would connect them, other than the days of my life. The pages of my story. I find that it is easier to access a place that holds that stream of consciousness if I am alone, and the world is quite- like when I am in the woods. There are plenty of stories here in the woods. Each tree has a tale to tell, a lifetime of knowledge trapped in the rings of it's growth. From it's birth to the time it falls, most of the time, up here, that's a good while after it's death. Most of the trees in this area don't ever get logged because the slopes they grow on are too steep. So they stand long after they have expired, at least until the wind takes th...

Living way out here in the woods, there are things that need done each year. The firewood needs to be chopped and stacked, the house needs to be weatherized, the garden space needs cleaned up, and so on. This year, for some reason, we decided to get chickens. I was unawares of "chicken-math" before the wife picked up a couple-12 <cough> chickens. Then four more... so far.  While I like chicken, especially nuggets, these are the "laying" type of chickens, meaning they are not for the smoker, the stove, the oven or any other thing that turns them into food. Besides, the wife already named them. Which apparently means they are people now.  The crappy part is that I don't like eggs unless they are in other foods. This isn't so bad, those foods include but are not limited to CAKE! And even though one of the chickens grew a penis and started yelling at the break of dawn, there are still over a dozen more chances for me to get said cake.  Now, here's the ...

"Beyond the Clouds." (c) 2024 J.B. Sommerset It's been a rough year. It's hard to watch the news these days, for a myriad of reasons, none good. Sometimes I suffer from "news fatigue", which is, apparently a very real thing. This weeks quote helps me to laugh at the news cycle, because I desperately need to. This quote was derived after I watched a rebroadcasted clip from a certain "news network" that isn't really a news network. I hope this one makes some of you chuckle. "The world is largely populated by people who use statistics in the same sentence as the word boner..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

It's no secret that Uncle Sam is having a hard time smiling right now. To all you people in the U.S. of A., have a fourth of July. I hope it's happy, and I hope it gets better.

  "A Fine Day" (c) 2025 J.B. Sommerset Sometimes I just have those days, ones that are nearly perfect. Ones that make me appreciate time a little more, it's not like they should last forever. They should last long enough to make it important, knowing that they are fleeting. Sometimes, the voice in my head functions clearer on days like this. Sometimes, it lets me hear what is deeper inside me. Here is your quote of the week. "Enlightenment is not a shift in what you know, it is not a change in your belief system or an enlargement of the way you understand the world. Although those things can accompany it, it is not dependent on them. Enlightenment is the absolute acceptance and tolerance of where you are in the world, in this moment, here and now." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

  "Sundowner" (c) 2024 J.B. Sommerset Sometimes nature speaks in ways I can't ignore. It can paint the world better than I could. Sometimes I am overwhelmed by things I, as a writer, don't have the words to describe. A paint so ethereal it has no phonetic meaning. I am reminded in those times how small and stupid I really am, although I think I am clever at times, I am but a stupid little spec among the bristles of an artist that has been mastering the craft for millions of years. If you haven't gathered, this weeks quote is about nature. "Nature has no evils, no malice, no bad intentions. Those things are projections of mankind's own sickness. Nature has no need for those things, and in many cases it does not tolerate them ruining it's painting. It shines in spite of us." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Spring Morning" (c) 2025 J.B. Sommerset For some reason, this one didn't get published last Friday, like it was supposed to, most likely some sort of user error. This weeks quote is one I came up with while sitting in the line at the D.M.V. years ago, it's still applicable today, especially at the D.M.V. "I have an incredible imagination, sometimes it's a gift. It lets me see impossible things, go to far off worlds and have unreal adventures. However, one thing it really struggles with is how insanely mediocre the inside of some people's minds are..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"The view from our House" (c) 2025 J.B. Sommerset This week's quote is more for me than it is for you, unless you too are running on fumes and the belief you have in yourself.  I have a tendency to get too many irons in the fire at the same time. The problem with a having to split the focus is that it's very hard to finish all the "stuffs" a person needs to do. Lately is seems that all of the projects I have been juggling are important, too important to put off. I am reminded of the little engine that could. Except I am also low on gas, and have bad wheel bearings.  This homesteading thing requires a lot of energy. So I decided to send the drone up above the trees and look out at the horizon. Beautiful! I took a photo of it for all of you.  It's a good reminder of why I work so hard at so many things. I am lucky to be able to live where I do, despite all the hardships. This week's quote if from the rough rider himself- Teddy Roosevelt. I hope it mean...

"Shroom Buddies" (c) 2025 J.B. Sommerset This week is a busy one for me, I have a chicken coup to finish, and 10 chickens to make happy. Eggs, sweet eggs, it's how we shall pay the mortgage.   I don't have the time to post. However, last week, I found some time to post ahead and bring all of you up to speed on things. While I was outside this past week, I noticed there have been more mushrooms fruiting. Usually the season kicks them off earlier in the year, this year they were late. Anyway, I bring up mushrooms because of the weekly quote. This weeks quote is not about politics, I need to take a break from that, it's a tidal wave of shit. This week's quote is about mushrooms, because they are awesome. This quote is short, sweet, and simple. I don't really know who this is, but it's a quote I have liked for a while now. “Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom.” Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus Cheers!

"Tiny little friend" (c) 2025 J.B. Sommerset Well, I guess I can't call it the quote of the week if I don't update on the regular- like weekly would be ideal for calling it "the quote of the week". But, what the hell, I'm going to do my best and call it that anyway. So, I am now back on the wagon, despite the shit-show that is my country right now. Here's todays quote, it's not mine, but it fits the times.  "The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth..."  H.L. Mencken Cheers!

So, here's a quick update from my world, that is the world in the woods and the mountains. Of course, I mean everything other than fighting off the mountain lions, bears, and the mooses... meese? uh, moose's? What ever the plural of moose is ... the guy in the photo above is one of them. This one likes standing between me and my car and asking if I like to eat through straws. Out side of that, I have been working on building a green house. In part, because I get the feeling that groceries are about to take a turn and become a "luxury item". Most Americans, at least us that aren't in the 2%, might be resorting to a number of poor-man's dinners in the near future. To mitigate that, we in my household, have decided to amp our own food production up. Grow our own veggies, we got some chickens, and I am currently growing mushrooms too. However, where we live, the veggies are going to require a solution that keeps the frost out. So, a green house it is!  It's no...

"Fractals in G minor" (C) 2025 JBSommerset Some of you have asked, do I still art, the answer is yes. I do still art. Although recently my art has shifted it's direction. I have been doing two types of art recently. The first are illustrations for a story I have been working on, and the second are "mandala" works that seem to stall my urge to kill <cough> <cough>, I mean my unfathomable rage. (That's a joke for all you literalists out there.)  I decided to post a couple of these Mandalas here just to give you all some eye-candy, and to let you all know that I am still alive. I hope you enjoy them. "The Rune Wheel" (C) 2025 JBSommerset "Mushroom Mandala 1" (c) 2025 JBSommerset Cheers!

Resilient A.F. J.B. Sommerset (C) 2025     It's been a long time sense I posted anything. I had been busy trying to find ways to enact change, prepare for the worst, and stave off a tidal wave of embarrassment, anger, and some depression. I decided that it would be good to return, and post more. I hate to say it, but a lot of my writing moving forward might have a political flavor, for that I apologize in advance.      I do not say this light hearted, I do not say it because it has not been said before, or because I am prone to "hysteria" as that vapid ugly bald-ass incel  Steven Miller would say. What I write about today I write out of extreme concern, not just the people in the U.S., the good people who denounce what is happening, but I write this out of concern the whole world. We aren't the only players on this board, we never have been, and we share this pale blue dot with a host of diversity, all forms of it. Handing the keys to the U.S. over to thes...

"In The Mist" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 This week has been a long one, there is so much to do in tax season, so much to do with the businesses. Now that we have an orange butthole's friends running the show, that might get even more complicated. Who knows, at this point some of us are just watching the crapper burn down. Anyway, here's a quote for all of you out there in the interwebs- it seems we are all lost... "Let's face it, if you have no where to be, lost isn't so bad..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

A 2025 Promise, J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 Following up on the last quote of the week, here another one about being alone. In todays modern world, where we are all connected every minute of every day, the value of being alone is overshadowed by an artificial type of connection. That being said, even today, even as connected as we are, a person can still be utterly alone. So here's a quote about it... "The thing about being lonely is this; it's worse when you have to go through it alone." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"A January Evening" by J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 This week I let my inner isolationist take the wheel for the quote. This one is from one of my old works, but I think it is more relevant today than it ever was when the world wasn't such a weird place. Hope you get some insight from this quote. "An axe, a saw, and a dog are much more a friend to the wise man than most of the persons of this world." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"January Mist" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 There are some explosive things that are happening this year. So far we haven't blown up the world... yet. We'll most likely get to that. But in the meantime, while we are still here, it's important to remember- we are still alive. So, here's a quote about being alive.  "Life is what you are doing when you're not dead, those who choose to do nothing are most likely already dead." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"A January Morning" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2025 Well, well, well... Look what the cat dragged in, it's 2025. We all knew this was coming, and now it's here. Another year come and and gone, and I am not so sure that's a good thing. 2024 had it's problems, but they were our problems, and 2024 didn't let us fix those problems before everything turned. We went through so much together, so many experiences, and now we have to move on to something new. Let's be clear here, when talking about 2024, we all said the same thing to her: "It's not you, it's me. I am changing and I need my space" (or something along those lines). But secretly we had our eye on 2025, at least the fickle among us did. Now 2025 is here, I find myself having regrets. Did I give 2024 enough of a chance? Was I the one that quit us? Was our relationship doomed to fail? It's too late now. Lets see what the new year brings. I took a little time off after the election to re...

"Snow again" J.B. Sommerset (c) 2024 There is an old Marxist saying that goes, "Religion is the opiate of the people." I agree in part with that quote, but there is more to that, it's summed up, sort of, in the rest of his writing. I have chosen to shorten that and add it here. So here you are, the quote of the week.  "Power is the opiate of the rich, much like religion is the opiate of the people..." J.B. Sommerset Cheers!

"Adolf Drump" J.B. Sommerset (2024) Wow, that election really through me off my game, I gotta make up for this somehow. Here's a quote I thought would be fitting for the times. This one isn't mine, but it needs to be said anyway: "The harshest tyranny is that which acts under the protection of legality and the banner of justice". F. Montesquieu Cheers! Here's to getting back on track.