I found my own personal pigeon friend.

 Yesterday, when I was out feeding the pigeons, I noticed that one of the pigeons stayed behind, while the other birds left, after their meal. He was puffy feathered, which indicated that he might be under the weather. I tried picking him up, and, surprisingly, he let me pick him up. 

I'm not sure why he's not flying away, but I took him to another pigeon-feeding spot, and I let him wander around, with the new pigeons, and, after their meal, he let me pick him up, again, so I took him home. 

He's an adorable puffy pigeon. He slept next to my bed, and I gave him a water dish and some cookie crumbs, while I'm out, for the day. 

I'm not sure if I'm going to keep him, for the long term, just yet. I have to figure out if his condition is temporary, or not, and see if he stops letting me pick him up, after a few days, or so. He seems fairly healthy, aside from the puffy feathers, and he might make a good housed pigeon, for me to keep. 

Update: the pigeon succumbed to whatever was ailing him, and he passed away, 2 nights ago. I had one day with him, which was nice :)

The new and updated Sticker Time October 2024 complete series (48 pieces).

 These are all images that have previously been shown and published, here on iPigeon.institute, and elsewhere; it's just that I set out to do as complete a collection as I felt would be appropriate, considering the recent art work in imagery I've done, as well as examples and images from my earlier years in image, photography, and illustration creation.

My latest, most complete Sticker Time set yet - I decided to do a small run of prints for nearly all of my Sticker Time images.

The Sticker Time Collection is a (currently) small novelty art, Generative Artificial Intelligence imagery, and photography series, which is in ongoing development, for the sake of popularizing and reawakening the connections we have, as humans, with birds; a colloquy which brings some of the cute things about birds, and our imagination and bond that people have, with regards to the human endeavor, in exploring the potential that we have: a life enriched, when we have an inclusion of bird friends amongst us, captured in the miniature form and artistic medium of 2-inch stickers, which, individually, portray some small aspect of birds, brought to light.

The project is still in it's early stages, as my artistic aspirations and hopes for this collection are expansive, with regards to differing mediums, with which to present the art, as well as that I'd like to explore more themes in creating numerous amounts more stickers. 

What it's like to overdose, these days, in Los Angeles (Santa Monica).

 Oops, I overdosed on fentanyl, again.

Luckily, this time around wasn't so bad - I was in broad public, during the last of the daylight hours, and I had just arrived in Santa Monica, to do some recyclables collecting, to supplement my income, at the end of the month. Along the way, on the ride there, I happened upon a suspect small plastic bag that contained some powder. Having been a previous overdose victim, due to snorting a substance that I'd assumed was something else, more innocuous and commonplace, I made sure to taste test the white powder, before ingesting it via insufflation. There was little to no taste to it. Mind you, my whole mindset was fraught against me, since I had used crystal meth, earlier in the day, heavily, and I was generally not all that satisfied with my take, with it, despite that it was a generous amount that I'd received. I waited until I arrived in Santa Monica. When I arrived, there, there were uniformed officers tending the Metro train station's gate exits, and we had to tap our TAP cards to exit, like they had begun in North Hollywood. No big deal, for me, since I paid for my fare. Once I was in, loose in the city, I headed to the bathroom. It had been about 30-45 minutes since I taste-tested the powdery substance. I should have known that it wasn't crystal meth, straight out, but my impulses led me astray, and I decided to nasally sample the bag's contents, in their entirety, once I reached a restroom. At that point, I knew that the substance was some kind of synthetic chemical, and I went about my day, thinking that I could perhaps outperform the effects of this product, if I simply remain vigilant. 

I started out collecting recyclables, again, and some of the tourists there offered me some of their recyclables, out at a corner driveway, nearby the pier. At this point, which was 10-15 minutes after I had snorted the contents of the bag, I began feeling troublesomely woozy and a bit nauseous and lightheaded, but managing receiving the recyclables from this pair of gentlemen proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back, and I started to fall over, due to having lost my balance. I'd waited too long to get help, and get some Narcan in me. 

Next time, I'll know better, or I'll do better, or something (I figured).

Of course I would do better, on the occasion of my third fentanyl overdose, in hindsight. I've started, for example, to take precautions, in conditioning myself, in a general sense, to live out a more sober set of lifestyle traits, now that my housing is stable, and I'm generally well-taken care of, with the help of the Los Angeles County Mental Health Department, and my Caseworkers, Nurse, and new Doctor, whom are somewhat my peers, generationally-speaking, so that's a nice feature of my treatment paradigm, at the moment. For example, I make sure to do small, simple tasks, like making out my Google Calendar, to mark not only tasks that need to be completed, but also, I cover events that I plan for, or happen upon, as I go about my day. I do this for some sense of accountability and for busy work's sake. It's one of my sober tasks that I keep up, being that I was trained on outright homelessness, for a long time, and that was a lot of recycling (that should be a clue, for me, next time), to a large degree, and I was also living outside, completely, with nowhere to turn, much, for a reasonable take on shelter. I kept on, in making sure that I kept the pigeons fed, regularly, during this time, so that was added activities to finance and support; essentially, much of my days, when I wasn't resting, was characterized by these and similar sorts of laborious and physically exertive tasks, as a homeless person, travelling, in this latest outset of homelessness, from Century City, back over to Downtown Los Angeles, and back, on a regular basis, to keep up with everything. I had been homeless since late spring, of last year, and last July was my previous overdose, which I don't really recall the foreshadowing details of, if there were any, and which was particularly detrimental to me and my work, since I had lost everything: my clothes, my wallet, my iPad Pro, all of my belongings. I was just set out on the street, anew, once I was released from the hospital, in that instance. Here, in this last weekend's hospitalization, I lost my wallet and recyclables, but I didn't lose my ID, so most of the items I had with me are really simple things to replace. 

Overdosing, as an experience, in this instance, was fairly well met with supportive assistance and friendly service, from law enforcement and the fire department paramedics, who gave me a general rundown of 1. that I had lost consciousness and, essentially, I overdosed on fentanyl, 2. that I was going to the hospital, at which point I became aware of my surroundings - it was the same setting in which the two gentlemen were offering me recyclables to collect, and the sun hadn't quite set, yet, by that point - I lost consciousness amidst a huge crowd of pedestrian foot traffic, essentially, and 3. they gave me some timely followup talk with regards to what to expect, such as that I'd be feeling nauseous, and I might need to throw up. They gave me a portable vomit container, which I ended up using a few of. I figure that the dose of fentanyl that I took, given that I'd previously had melatonin, in pure powder form, which was supplied to me, with a 2 mg spoon, was about 8 mg - that's a lot, for someone with no tolerance to opiates - about a week's worth of dosages. If I had my senses and sensibilities about me, I would have rejected the found small bag of powder, altogether, but I had no oversight watching over me, and I took it, somewhat as a guilty, indulgent pleasure, that I felt I might get out of it. I see guys and girls smoking fentanyl all the time, where I live, but I suppose that they're more accustomed and experienced with dealing with negative side effects and overdose situations. One of the medics told me that he'd placed a catheter in to my arm, ostensibly to relieve some pressure, or to perform tests on my heart and blood pressure, since they had to figure out why I was unconscious.

Nearly a week after the overdose, I have some bruising in my arm, where the catheter was inserted.

I was taken to Saint John's Hospital, in Santa Monica - not far, and I stayed there for a few hours. The vibe was pretty relaxed; I was left to myself, and the attendants and nurses followed up with me, regularly - it was good service. I threw up, a few times, but after a few hours, I was ready to head on home, and they released me with a prescription for Ondansetron (Zofran). Several days later, the nausea is gone, and I'm fairly much back to normal. Thanks, to everyone who helped out, on this incident. 

Pigeon-watching hotspots to see around town #9: DTLA Flower at 9th Street Flock, at Starbucks

 This flock has been developing ever since the 7-11 moved in to town, just up the street. Although the birds perch and hang out in various small nooks along Flower, and sometimes, in front of Ralph's, today I observed the birds hanging out at the side of the Starbucks cafe, and I felt like this was the perfect location to start establishing a regular visiting spot, for the birds to come and congregate, for a meal. 

The 9th at Flower locale pigeon flock, in the spot that I fancy, next to the Starbucks cafe.

Another view of the pigeons, with the Starbucks in view. 

Recipe: chocolate clove (mint) flavored cigarettes.

 With the battering that the flavored tobacco industry took, in California, it's prudent to begin flavoring cigarettes on your own.

On one hand, the industry was very youthful, with hundreds of flavor startups vying for a market share in the smokeless tobacco industry.

Cigarettes just "feel" better (when smoked), with natural and organic flavors added to them.

Vaporizers, while nice, just have a bit of something lacking to them, compared to the enjoyment found in a nice cigarette, especially a flavored one.

USP nicotine is a strongly toxic chemical to wield around, and to entrust someone else, in a youthful industry, to manage appropriately, in vaporizer solutions.

Chocolate clove (mint) flavored cigarettes have a mild, relaxing hit to them, with a pleasurable flavor and experience, throughout. Simply order some simple ingredients online, and prepare your tobacco, upon settling in, for the night, after purchasing a pack - this project does take some foresight. 

Flavor concentrates versus fragrance components:

- some flavor concentrates are dissolved in a solution of propylene glycol, which is favorable for adding to both nicotine salts solution concentrate (vaporizer) mixtures and directly on to cigarettes, alike, although, when working with tobacco, in this case, the residues from the unevaporated propylene glycol, which is a food grade antifreeze, and which imparts the effect of "smoke," when used in a vaporizer, just might be additional fluff, so to speak; unnecessary, in other words, in a tobacco smoking setting. Fragrance ingredients are nearly all mostly volatile compounds - their volatility is actually intertwined with their worth, hence, the fleeting and transient nature of fine fragrance, whereas a lingering scent becomes a headache, in many cases. 

- fragrance ingredient extractions are time-worn and standardized procedures, with some manufacturers and supply chains practicing stringent, internationally and historically recognized, traditional chemistry procedures. Not that this isn't the case with flavor ingredients, as well, it's just that we don't "smoke" inhale our food; food is eaten, drinks are drunk, and tasted, whereas there is a fragrant aspect to smoking which could come in to consideration, in this context.

The Cocoa absolute, being a somewhat scarcely found product, is well-to-do, to be ordered from Liberty Natural. Their ¼ oz. size comes in a good, deep-well container, to which solvent may be added, to make concentrations varying from 50% to 10%, depending on the virginity of the solvent solution. I chose isopropyl myristate for my solvent, which is, essentially (or nearly) a fragrance-free version of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. In addition, IPM is fully volatile, and it will evaporate completely, while also dissolving a good portion of the fragrant and flavorful components of this Cocoa absolute. Just note that the solution is a fully liquid thing, so dampening your cigarettes, with some slaked-on droplets of solution will make the cigarettes fragile. I recommend doing this project when you're calm and settled down, for some long stretch of time, given a day or more, of productivity, by comparison.

The clove bud oil, which I like, as a throwback to Djarum "cigarettes," (they're actually labeled as cigars), gives a nice, mild and satisfying smoke, when directly applied to a cigarette (white paper portion).

A pack of Djarums.

The oil does not need to dry, before lighting up, but if you add the Cocoa absolute with IPM, I would strongly recommend fully drying out the cigarettes, in front of a fan, or under gentle heat, as inhaling isopropanol-type compounds, acutely, can cause temporary blindness, an unpleasant and hazardous condition to bear. For my choice of supplier: in this case, I went with Whole Foods' Aura Cacia Organic Clove Bud Oil, which came out to around $8.50 or $9.00, or so, after a 28% Amazon Prime member sale discount, from around $11.00-$12.00, or so. Just one or two droplets will do - no need to overdo it, and try to make a saucy, soaking cigarette, here. The flavor and fragrance components, here, are well concentrated, on their own merits.

That's it! As far as a mint flavoring - it would be nice, but I just haven't implemented it, in my flavoring outsets, just yet, so I won't jump the gun and write on it, for now. 

Update: some time had passed, and there was some discussion on the topic of mint, such as:

"I know you know what the best mint is, ... what is it?"

It took a while for me to recall the name of this special mint oil, but I knew that it was something good. Rich, fresh, smooth, and cooling. Then, I remembered that I was particularly fond of cornmint, which I had ordered from Perfumer's World, a couple of years back, or so. I believe that Liberty Natural stocks cornmint oil. Yet, even so, someone had commented that an oil of mint isn't all that agreeable, and that menthol crystals themselves ought to be used. This brought up the discussion of flavoring tobacco to a more primary sense, and someone mentioned cigarette filter crush balls, which are akin to the formerly stocked crush cigarettes, which, in southern California, were mainly Marlboro NXT and Camel Crush. I've tried this configuration, recently, in a cigarette butt that i picked up, to smoke, and it came out tasting just like the original crush ball cigarettes. I don't quite recall where I saw the crush ball flavoring pods online, maybe it was Amazon or eBay, or something, but I'm also not sure if the pods can be ordered and sent to a California address, due to the legislation that banned flavored tobacco products such as crush cigarettes.

Update: I traced back my previous browsing find, regarding end-user, DIY cigarette filter flavor pods. I found this machine on eBay for $10, that will insert the flavor capsules in to the cigarette filter, so that the cigarette can be flavored. There is also a link for 2,000 flavor pod capsules, priced at $40.00. I'll definitely try out this product solution, at some point soon, and I'll keep people updated as to how it works out.

The eBay listing page for the cigarette filter flavor pod / capsules installer machine, which has a link to another listing for the flavor pods themselves, as well.

Enjoy!

Some lightly dampened Cocoa and clove cigarettes, drying out, in front of a portable waist fan - an essential step, especially if you're in a hurry.

Announcement: Pigeon Learning Knowledgebase, via Pigeon Journal Article of the Day Threaded Serials. № 1 - Identification and Difference in the Pigeon's Perception and Psychological Experience. (Updating)

  The pigeon, from it's heritage as a partner in our nation's (and our British allies; pre-dating us) armed forces, to more recent roles in surveillance and intelligence, to more urbane task-bearing notable uses, for the bird, such as in the messenger pigeon - all are fine, rich contexts for animal intelligence studies and modeling of psychological experiments in our hometowns and neighborhoods, internationally, whether the settings be urban, suburban, or rural in nature, whether the birds begin, as study subjects, as wild flocks, farmed, fancy, or domestic, the pigeon is a mark and a symbol of the pigeon fancier's pride and skill, in display arts depicting the successes of interaction and cooperation between species: us, being humans, and pigeons, which fulfill our ages-old fascination with flying; what could be learned from a betterment of our understanding and experiences with pigeons, being the core and fundamental basis of this learning series.

The blog article series starts off with an anecdotal experience and observations  of behaviors in the local pigeon flocks that I work with and feed, on a daily basis (as best I can) - behaviors that recently (re)surfaced in some of the birds, in the context of that they could demonstrate that they could identify me, as well as modify their individual and collective behaviors, thereby influencing the socialization profile of the larger unit of the flock, based on embedded conditioning that had been established through my routine interactions with the birds, in feeding them. 

The article I reference, to begin this study series, dates back nearly 50 years, in the Science publication:

Pigeon Journal Article / Thread of the Day № 2: Clicker Training.

 The first  entry in this set of serial / threaded entries, intended as an aide to the academic study (or abstract review, at minimum) of pigeons, or, perhaps broader contexts, such as poultry, or avians, as a whole. The sets of serial entries are gathered and examined for the sake of extending the knowledge base and references / resources available for the sake of bettering the flocks and understanding their progress, potential, and current status in behavior, learning, sensory experience, genetics, and other pertinent subject areas, as the threads and series sets procure added and new material for review and study. 

On this day, I brought out my animal training clicker (I have two), and I signalled to the bird flock outside the local public library, where the birds have become accustomed to being fed, when I show up and haunch myself up on the ledge, in front of their lofty perch, above. Subsequently, the birds have developed identification and discriminatory perceptive capabilities, and they have routinely adjusted their behavioral customs, progressing from observing and waiting for food to be thrown out, to predicting that food will be thrown out (by me), and, thus, they now demonstrate a more pro-sociable behavioral custom, in flying down, around me, in anticipation of being fed. Identification and discrimination (which will be my second entry, or "zero" entry, since I'll be referencing a past article and related practical study, dating back one day. I'm simply starting the series with the second day's thread) was the initial (first) thread, which I haven't written (yet), but, chronologically, that subject was first examined, for the sake of reference and documentation purposes, for this series on my blog.