http://www.sorryeverybody.com/
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Thursday, November 04, 2004
"I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it". "I'll reach out to everyone who shares our goals". These two comments were made by G. Dubbya today, a little over 24 hours after Kerry conceded and our once-again boy president stated he would try to win over those who had voted for his opponent. Hmmm...Not only do these statements reek of arrogance, but the message seems to be "My way or the highway", and not one of someone who should understand that roughly half of this country disagrees massively with his agenda. Maybe the big 'G' is smarter than I've given him credit for as he certainly seems to know he's got us by the short hairs...Mandate this Dubbya!
NPR reported today that an independent international news group had taken it's own poll, the results of which are: If the world's population had been allowed to vote in our recent presidential election, Dubbya would have garnered around 26%, and Kerry would have gotten somewhere between 70-72%. If you are human Dubbya, then you should be in possession of a functioning brain. May I suggest you use it and start paying attention, or does that require one to have a functioning heart also?
"Do not let the fact that things are not made for you, that conditions are not as they should be, stop you. Go on anyway. Everything depends on those who go on anyway". -Robert Henri-
"Action is the antidote to despair". -Joan Baez-
"The only thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience".
-Harper Lee-
NPR reported today that an independent international news group had taken it's own poll, the results of which are: If the world's population had been allowed to vote in our recent presidential election, Dubbya would have garnered around 26%, and Kerry would have gotten somewhere between 70-72%. If you are human Dubbya, then you should be in possession of a functioning brain. May I suggest you use it and start paying attention, or does that require one to have a functioning heart also?
"Do not let the fact that things are not made for you, that conditions are not as they should be, stop you. Go on anyway. Everything depends on those who go on anyway". -Robert Henri-
"Action is the antidote to despair". -Joan Baez-
"The only thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience".
-Harper Lee-
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
This election was, in the final stages, billed as a referendum on George W. Bush and his first four years ( simply stating it as "his first four years" and thereby denoting 4 more to come is still nightmarish at this point). Maybe so, but I'm choosing to view it as a referendum on the American public, we the people, the "moral" and immoral majority, the inhabitants of the promised land, the keepers of the light of freedom, etc, etc, etc...I watched until things stalled last night, watching and hoping with all my might, trying to will John Kerry into the White House, not so much believing he could turn all this mess around, but knowing that the corporate puppet we've endured these past 4 years, the infamous G. Dubbya, had more than had his way with us, raping and plundering our collective will and consent, telling us all the way it was necessary, convincing too many of us that his way was THE WAY. John Kerry's slate was much cleaner, and he seemed much more willing to allow us to write upon it what we thought best for this country and thereby the world. He wasn't perfect, his flaws dramatically exposed during the grueling past months of a nasty campaign, but he was the only alternative to what I viewed as the all too obvious debacle of 'young' Bush's reign. I fell asleep and dreamt of the 'what if' of the next day, knowing the chances for Kerry were extremely slim, but hey, the Red Sox came back from the edge, so why not another lightening strike, this time for the good of humanity.
Waking up at 0530 this morning I had a political hangover of immense proportions, too much analytical ramblings and rants from the right, left and center, too much of a not-so-good-thing. I went to work, absent-mindedly slammed a few airplanes around, and all the while wondered why no one else seemed to be talking about the past evening and the implications of what was probably the inevitable outcome I so desperately wanted to avoid becoming aware of. Around 0815 I went online and immediately saw the headlines saying that Kerry had conceded. At that moment I realized just how much this whole thing had meant to me, how deeply regime change had become entwined with my psyche and my spirit. I've no idea what death feels like, but I believe I experienced 'death' at some level as I read those headlines, and as I looked around me and saw everyone else proceeding through their day so damn normally I began to feel what I've been sensing all along and I became quite angry, angrier still as the truth of what had really happened became clear. Apathy. That's what had happened; collective, insidious apathy, as guilty myself of succumbing to the enrapturment of it all as anyone else. The re-election of Bush was OUR fault, and not the result of someone else's ignorance separate from myself. We had blown it, our chance for redemption, however slight, had slithered away into the cold, dark realm of uncertainty and the accompanying despair that always follows. The coasts went blue, the south and center red, and in the end the blue was perhaps too smug and self-assured to reach out to the red and say "Hey' we're in this together, and we better get it right". G. Dubbya and his minions, (or is it the other way around?), beat us fair and square because we fell asleep at the wheel and they took advantage of that with a resolve and stealth we didn't see coming. This battle is lost, and for our once great society I'm not so sure it isn't already too late to save its soul. My biggest fear is that we will now slowly roll over and begin the process of social erosion that is the final stage all great societies must eventually face. With the republicans/conservatives on the verge of controlling all three branches of government, the balance we need to make this great experiment run is endangered and may quite possibly become the doorway to anarchy. I know this sounds like something Orwell would have penned, but when one stops and thinks about where we've been, where we are...where we're going seems suspicious at best.
I don't know what's to be done at this point, and I'm feeling more than a little lost and alone in regards to wielding any real power to change things. In the end compassion and love seem to be the only sentiments that ever bring about lasting or at least meaningful change, and making that argument part of any re-occurring debate wears me out, and eventually puts me in opposition to the very ideals I believe are paramount to turning this crazy, wacky world around. Chief Joseph, after eluding the cavalry for many months, his people weary beyond belief, his stomach eternally soured by death and the destruction of his world, made the simple statement "I shall fight no more forever". Did he find something cleansing at that point, the weight of all his troubles suddenly lifted from his broad shoulders? Am I at that point, or do I still have some fight left in me? I sometimes wonder if waging battle in support of the "good fight" is even the way to victory, that maybe 'victory' isn't what I think it is. G. Dubbya and his self-perceived "moral authority" over the world scares the hell out of me, but who am I to think that it's even within my realm to combat the onslaught of his slanted, ill-conceived, supposedly Christian-driven idealology and its impact on our world. I'm humbled by what has occurred over the course of my life, the last 3 years perhaps the catalyst for a new awakening within me. It just doesn't matter, it just doesn't matter, it just doesn't matter...and in the end that just may be more than enough.
Waking up at 0530 this morning I had a political hangover of immense proportions, too much analytical ramblings and rants from the right, left and center, too much of a not-so-good-thing. I went to work, absent-mindedly slammed a few airplanes around, and all the while wondered why no one else seemed to be talking about the past evening and the implications of what was probably the inevitable outcome I so desperately wanted to avoid becoming aware of. Around 0815 I went online and immediately saw the headlines saying that Kerry had conceded. At that moment I realized just how much this whole thing had meant to me, how deeply regime change had become entwined with my psyche and my spirit. I've no idea what death feels like, but I believe I experienced 'death' at some level as I read those headlines, and as I looked around me and saw everyone else proceeding through their day so damn normally I began to feel what I've been sensing all along and I became quite angry, angrier still as the truth of what had really happened became clear. Apathy. That's what had happened; collective, insidious apathy, as guilty myself of succumbing to the enrapturment of it all as anyone else. The re-election of Bush was OUR fault, and not the result of someone else's ignorance separate from myself. We had blown it, our chance for redemption, however slight, had slithered away into the cold, dark realm of uncertainty and the accompanying despair that always follows. The coasts went blue, the south and center red, and in the end the blue was perhaps too smug and self-assured to reach out to the red and say "Hey' we're in this together, and we better get it right". G. Dubbya and his minions, (or is it the other way around?), beat us fair and square because we fell asleep at the wheel and they took advantage of that with a resolve and stealth we didn't see coming. This battle is lost, and for our once great society I'm not so sure it isn't already too late to save its soul. My biggest fear is that we will now slowly roll over and begin the process of social erosion that is the final stage all great societies must eventually face. With the republicans/conservatives on the verge of controlling all three branches of government, the balance we need to make this great experiment run is endangered and may quite possibly become the doorway to anarchy. I know this sounds like something Orwell would have penned, but when one stops and thinks about where we've been, where we are...where we're going seems suspicious at best.
I don't know what's to be done at this point, and I'm feeling more than a little lost and alone in regards to wielding any real power to change things. In the end compassion and love seem to be the only sentiments that ever bring about lasting or at least meaningful change, and making that argument part of any re-occurring debate wears me out, and eventually puts me in opposition to the very ideals I believe are paramount to turning this crazy, wacky world around. Chief Joseph, after eluding the cavalry for many months, his people weary beyond belief, his stomach eternally soured by death and the destruction of his world, made the simple statement "I shall fight no more forever". Did he find something cleansing at that point, the weight of all his troubles suddenly lifted from his broad shoulders? Am I at that point, or do I still have some fight left in me? I sometimes wonder if waging battle in support of the "good fight" is even the way to victory, that maybe 'victory' isn't what I think it is. G. Dubbya and his self-perceived "moral authority" over the world scares the hell out of me, but who am I to think that it's even within my realm to combat the onslaught of his slanted, ill-conceived, supposedly Christian-driven idealology and its impact on our world. I'm humbled by what has occurred over the course of my life, the last 3 years perhaps the catalyst for a new awakening within me. It just doesn't matter, it just doesn't matter, it just doesn't matter...and in the end that just may be more than enough.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
My wife and I attended a Peace Vigil tonight organized by MoveOn.org. It was a nation-wide event, and was designed to simply get people together and experience 45 minutes of collective consciousness about the 1,000 plus American military members who have lost their lives in Iraq. I also chose to meditate about all the other innocent human beings who have died as a result of this unjust war, attempting to at least give them a voice in my thoughts and a place in my heart.
We stood in Ventura, Ca in front of the Government center at the corner of Telephone & Victoria, a very busy intersection and the site of many other protests of all shapes and textures. As I stood there, silently contemplating and watching the world go by, I began to notice the vehicles streaming along just a few feet from where I was standing; BMWs, Acuras, RVs, Harleys, Hondas, tons of SUV's, commercial vehicles, city buses, etc...some of the drivers honked their approval, but most passed us by without even glancing at our gathering. As I watched this constant procession of vehicles, I began to consider the connection between oil and the deaths I was there to honor. I wondered how many gallons of gas does one death purchase? Do you get more gallons for an American death than an Iraqui death (abbreviated as GPD). If my own loved one had been killed, would I still believe in protecting the "American way of life" at all costs, and do I even believe that now?
I don't think most people in this country really grasp the significance of what freedom means, and how fortunate anybody living in this country is relative to the rest of the world. Most Americans think freedom means doing whatever the hell one wants, grasping the brass ring and spending our way towards the perception of happiness and bliss. Sadly, most Americans have forgotten the responsibility part of the freedom equation, and that these freedoms erode without nourishment and awareness of what really matters in life. Money and power won't give you happiness, nor will they keep freedom alive and vibrant. True freedom is a state of awareness and can only be truly protected by honoring others, regardless of where they live, how they talk, or what they look like. How free are we when we feel compelled to live in great excess, and have to constantly protect this manner of living by impinging our will upon other cultures and people through superior military might? To be truly free, doesn't one have to be free of fear, especially fear of the other guy? We can only work on ourselves ultimately...but that would seem to be an excellent place to begin.
We stood in Ventura, Ca in front of the Government center at the corner of Telephone & Victoria, a very busy intersection and the site of many other protests of all shapes and textures. As I stood there, silently contemplating and watching the world go by, I began to notice the vehicles streaming along just a few feet from where I was standing; BMWs, Acuras, RVs, Harleys, Hondas, tons of SUV's, commercial vehicles, city buses, etc...some of the drivers honked their approval, but most passed us by without even glancing at our gathering. As I watched this constant procession of vehicles, I began to consider the connection between oil and the deaths I was there to honor. I wondered how many gallons of gas does one death purchase? Do you get more gallons for an American death than an Iraqui death (abbreviated as GPD). If my own loved one had been killed, would I still believe in protecting the "American way of life" at all costs, and do I even believe that now?
I don't think most people in this country really grasp the significance of what freedom means, and how fortunate anybody living in this country is relative to the rest of the world. Most Americans think freedom means doing whatever the hell one wants, grasping the brass ring and spending our way towards the perception of happiness and bliss. Sadly, most Americans have forgotten the responsibility part of the freedom equation, and that these freedoms erode without nourishment and awareness of what really matters in life. Money and power won't give you happiness, nor will they keep freedom alive and vibrant. True freedom is a state of awareness and can only be truly protected by honoring others, regardless of where they live, how they talk, or what they look like. How free are we when we feel compelled to live in great excess, and have to constantly protect this manner of living by impinging our will upon other cultures and people through superior military might? To be truly free, doesn't one have to be free of fear, especially fear of the other guy? We can only work on ourselves ultimately...but that would seem to be an excellent place to begin.
Monday, July 26, 2004
I watched Bill speak tonight at the DNC, and I'm left asking the question "Can't we just let Bill run the show for awhile"? The man can lead, and after watching the Bush/Kerry debacle meander along, I know what I want in my President: someone with cajones and a brain. I don't give a damn about what Bill did with his willy while in the White House as it has no bearing on his ability to command. I want Bush out badly, but the vision of Kerry in charge is less than inspiring relative to the mess at hand. Whatever is to become of us...
Movie recommendation: Matchstick Men with Nicholas Cage is a quirky little vehicle for one of America's most under-appreciated actors. Intriguing plot with a spectacular twist at the end, and Nick does a splendid job of creating a character overun by his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Grade-A
Has Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs to achieve his record six Tour de France victories? Maybe, but whether he has or still does, I'm sure that most or possibly all of the top riders do as well. We expect athletes to be perfect, and we yearn for the heros that sport can produce, providing us with a chance to daydream away the mundane and the bland. We are in large part responsible for the scourge of drugs ravaging the sporting world, and how many of us would pass up a chance to be a hero and bask in the perpetual adulational of the adoring fan? We fan the fire, and we are the ones who keep throwing logs on the pile. We demand the spectacular, that records be broken, and better that they be smashed. We don't ask our athletic superheros to do anymore than we can dream, and yet we pass serious judgement when they fail and expose their human fraility. Having riden a bike thousands of miles myself, through heat, cold, rain, over mountains and into the teeth of ferocious winds, I applaude Lance and imagine how it must feel to be THE bicycle rider on the planet. Drugs or not, what he has accomplished is simply grand...
Is anybody out there??? I get the feeling that my blog has become like the tree that falls in the forest, and no one is present to hear the noise...
Movie recommendation: Matchstick Men with Nicholas Cage is a quirky little vehicle for one of America's most under-appreciated actors. Intriguing plot with a spectacular twist at the end, and Nick does a splendid job of creating a character overun by his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Grade-A
Has Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs to achieve his record six Tour de France victories? Maybe, but whether he has or still does, I'm sure that most or possibly all of the top riders do as well. We expect athletes to be perfect, and we yearn for the heros that sport can produce, providing us with a chance to daydream away the mundane and the bland. We are in large part responsible for the scourge of drugs ravaging the sporting world, and how many of us would pass up a chance to be a hero and bask in the perpetual adulational of the adoring fan? We fan the fire, and we are the ones who keep throwing logs on the pile. We demand the spectacular, that records be broken, and better that they be smashed. We don't ask our athletic superheros to do anymore than we can dream, and yet we pass serious judgement when they fail and expose their human fraility. Having riden a bike thousands of miles myself, through heat, cold, rain, over mountains and into the teeth of ferocious winds, I applaude Lance and imagine how it must feel to be THE bicycle rider on the planet. Drugs or not, what he has accomplished is simply grand...
Is anybody out there??? I get the feeling that my blog has become like the tree that falls in the forest, and no one is present to hear the noise...
Thursday, July 08, 2004
I saw "Fahrenheit 911" today, and yes it was an op-ed piece, and yes Michael Moore did his very best to make G.W. look like a hairy baboon, and perhaps he succeeded. Whether you're conservative, liberal, or somewhere in the middle, the movie is worth seeing because inspite of the contextual maneuvering, there are many factual bits that can lead to only one conclusion; Bush and his cronies lied, are lying, and will probably continue to lie. We've been voraciously duped, and the cost has been thousands and thousands of lives lost, and hundreds of thousands of lives impacted at a deeper level than most of us can fathom. Anyone who believes that we are in Iraq for any reason other than greed and the insatiable quest for power is flat out lying to themselves at a very fundamental level! G.W. has fucked us hard, and it's time we Americans pulled our heads out of our asses and started standing up for what is right instead of being herded like so many sheep to slaughter. The truth is everywhere, but I worry that most Americans no longer have the balls to pursue the good fight, or even worse, they don't care enough to make a stand. This is not something that is going to dissolve if we simply ignore it, but is instead THE fight of this and future generations. If you believe in the concept of 'good' versus 'evil', the evidence is abundant that evil is alive and well, and it is in fact calling the shots. Get angry America, time is running out...
"You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it." -John Updike-
"It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what the other people are doing with the same set of facts." -Bill Vaughan-
"Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." -African proverb-
"You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it." -John Updike-
"It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what the other people are doing with the same set of facts." -Bill Vaughan-
"Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." -African proverb-
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Spent too much of the day arguing the trivial aspects of life and the trappings of one's own limited perspective. Strange how we humans can become so easily dislodged from our place in this world by our own limits and desires. I've been going through a serious period of material acquisition and find myself to be no more or less happy than I was prior to the onslaught of this bi-product of modern living, but I do find myself considering where to put the stuff and how to safeguard it all on a regular basis as of late. It's just stuff, and in the end (either mine or the stuff's), it will still be just stuff. Perhaps I should just stuff it...
John Kerry seems to be coming alive with the addition of John Edwards to the ticket, but I still wonder if it's possible to flip the ticket at this point and have Edwards as the lead man??? In the end I wonder if it really matters who America's figure-head is, because I think the real driving forces of this country lay in the realm of BIG BUSINESS and corporate malfunction run amok. Does anyone who may read this really feel they have a "voice" anymore, especially when your voice speaks contrary to conventions embossed deeply into the DNA of the ruling class? I'll always vote because my conscience tells me that to complain I must first voice my political opinion, but it seems more and more futile the further down life's road I travel. How about we all undertake a human agenda instead, void of politics, capitalism, and the burning/blinding need to win! Our campaign slogan could be: GIVE PEACE A CHANCE...PRACTICE RADICAL EMPATHY...EVERYDAY!
A movie recommendation, even if you have no interest in ever becoming a surfer. "Step into Liquid" is an awesome visual spectacle, as well as an extremely soulful assessment of what surfing means to those of us who feel the "stoke", regardless of our level of ability. The film also has a 'heart' of great magnitude and may very well get you at a surprisingly deep level. If you watch it, let me know what you felt. My son Ray and I watched it Monday night and I'm taking him on his first surfing mission this Friday. In light of the not-so-distant disfunction of our father-son relationship this is a minor miracle, and causes a grin to crease my face even now...
Good night all. Strive to avoid confusion caused by appearance. Life is what we make it, but it is also what we don't make it. Follow your hearts, believe your dreams...
John Kerry seems to be coming alive with the addition of John Edwards to the ticket, but I still wonder if it's possible to flip the ticket at this point and have Edwards as the lead man??? In the end I wonder if it really matters who America's figure-head is, because I think the real driving forces of this country lay in the realm of BIG BUSINESS and corporate malfunction run amok. Does anyone who may read this really feel they have a "voice" anymore, especially when your voice speaks contrary to conventions embossed deeply into the DNA of the ruling class? I'll always vote because my conscience tells me that to complain I must first voice my political opinion, but it seems more and more futile the further down life's road I travel. How about we all undertake a human agenda instead, void of politics, capitalism, and the burning/blinding need to win! Our campaign slogan could be: GIVE PEACE A CHANCE...PRACTICE RADICAL EMPATHY...EVERYDAY!
A movie recommendation, even if you have no interest in ever becoming a surfer. "Step into Liquid" is an awesome visual spectacle, as well as an extremely soulful assessment of what surfing means to those of us who feel the "stoke", regardless of our level of ability. The film also has a 'heart' of great magnitude and may very well get you at a surprisingly deep level. If you watch it, let me know what you felt. My son Ray and I watched it Monday night and I'm taking him on his first surfing mission this Friday. In light of the not-so-distant disfunction of our father-son relationship this is a minor miracle, and causes a grin to crease my face even now...
Good night all. Strive to avoid confusion caused by appearance. Life is what we make it, but it is also what we don't make it. Follow your hearts, believe your dreams...
Monday, June 21, 2004
Dear "Anonymous",
First of all, if there are more than one of you commenting under the guise of "Anonymous", this is intended for the individual who is desiring a kiss on the head of their alter ego, and who believes that I am a "SELF-RIGHTEOUS FUCK". I appreciate your comment, and am more than willing to discuss further with you your views and quite possibly gain a fresher perspective for myself in the process. This blog was created solely for that purpose, and is in fact defined in part as "An open forum for the free exchange of ideas". It is your perogative to remain anonymous, but it would seem that your strong opinion of me could be better expressed by identifying who you are and then letting it rip unhindered by suspicion and conjecture.
Nothing is quite as humbling/perplexing/sad/unjust and as out of reach of clarity as the death of a friend cut down in their prime at the nubile age of 32. Fair winds and following seas Michael, you will be missed. The evidence of your existence and its broad and positive impact on so many was readily apparent into the wee hours this morning as your cronies and confidants embellished and cherished your essence, story after story ringing true for so many. We are reduced by your passing, but your life taught us in many small yet powerful ways that what truly matters is family and friends, and that life is wonderful indeed and should not be wasted.
First of all, if there are more than one of you commenting under the guise of "Anonymous", this is intended for the individual who is desiring a kiss on the head of their alter ego, and who believes that I am a "SELF-RIGHTEOUS FUCK". I appreciate your comment, and am more than willing to discuss further with you your views and quite possibly gain a fresher perspective for myself in the process. This blog was created solely for that purpose, and is in fact defined in part as "An open forum for the free exchange of ideas". It is your perogative to remain anonymous, but it would seem that your strong opinion of me could be better expressed by identifying who you are and then letting it rip unhindered by suspicion and conjecture.
Nothing is quite as humbling/perplexing/sad/unjust and as out of reach of clarity as the death of a friend cut down in their prime at the nubile age of 32. Fair winds and following seas Michael, you will be missed. The evidence of your existence and its broad and positive impact on so many was readily apparent into the wee hours this morning as your cronies and confidants embellished and cherished your essence, story after story ringing true for so many. We are reduced by your passing, but your life taught us in many small yet powerful ways that what truly matters is family and friends, and that life is wonderful indeed and should not be wasted.
Saturday, May 08, 2004
I have returned...from where I don't know. I have a short observation to share, and then it's off to consume sushi...
The mess in Iraq, prisoner abuse, protracted fighting without any light at the end of the tunnel, plummeting world opinion of America and our motives, etc...it seems to be out of control and I'm not sure anyone can fix it at this point. Since the beginning G. Dubbya has referred to the terrorist/Iraqis/everyone who isn't onboard with his vision, as the "war mongers and evil doers". The folks who find themselves guarding the prisoners have certainly bought into this mentality at some level, and while their acts towards other human beings are not in any way explainable, the combination of this mentality coupled with very poor common sense seems to be the root of what went wrong. Now Bush is publicly voicing his disgust and even saying he would advocate some type of reimbursement for the detainees. Strange that these "evil doers" can suddenly become so human in Georgie's eyes. Perhaps they weren't so evil to begin with, but instead felt strongly enough about their cause to take up arms in defense of their country, or perhaps they were sold a bill of goods by their leaders and now find themselves squarely in the path of America's wrath. Hmmm, perhaps we have more in common with the Iraqi people than it might appear, perhaps they really want the same things we want.
G. W., you've been presented with a wake-up call. Are you human enough to admit your blunders, or will you continue your arrogant ways of leadership. I believe the former approach will end your reign...
The mess in Iraq, prisoner abuse, protracted fighting without any light at the end of the tunnel, plummeting world opinion of America and our motives, etc...it seems to be out of control and I'm not sure anyone can fix it at this point. Since the beginning G. Dubbya has referred to the terrorist/Iraqis/everyone who isn't onboard with his vision, as the "war mongers and evil doers". The folks who find themselves guarding the prisoners have certainly bought into this mentality at some level, and while their acts towards other human beings are not in any way explainable, the combination of this mentality coupled with very poor common sense seems to be the root of what went wrong. Now Bush is publicly voicing his disgust and even saying he would advocate some type of reimbursement for the detainees. Strange that these "evil doers" can suddenly become so human in Georgie's eyes. Perhaps they weren't so evil to begin with, but instead felt strongly enough about their cause to take up arms in defense of their country, or perhaps they were sold a bill of goods by their leaders and now find themselves squarely in the path of America's wrath. Hmmm, perhaps we have more in common with the Iraqi people than it might appear, perhaps they really want the same things we want.
G. W., you've been presented with a wake-up call. Are you human enough to admit your blunders, or will you continue your arrogant ways of leadership. I believe the former approach will end your reign...
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Reverse Osmosis
Along the beach in the early morning
while you walked among the currents
An examination was undertaken
of the ordinary
of colored misshapen stones
The path you made entangled
the definition of time
While an oozing grain swallowed up
each indiscriminate step
of gathered and spurred thoughts
What ever remains of solace
dripping from innocence
Along the beach in the early morning
while you walked among the currents
An examination was undertaken
of the ordinary
of colored misshapen stones
The path you made entangled
the definition of time
While an oozing grain swallowed up
each indiscriminate step
of gathered and spurred thoughts
What ever remains of solace
dripping from innocence
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Richard Larsen, deputy opinion page editor for the Ventura County Star, had this to say about the internet and its effects on our pro-active/apathetic ventures regarding public involvement for and against the war in Iraq:
"A friend, a few decades younger than I, recently professed a sort of envy that I had lived in interesting times. She referred, of course, to the '60s, that era when possibilities seemed endless and schisms threatened every aspect of society.
I don't think my friend was expressing a wish that things would be more interesting now if we could re-experience the '60s, but I understood what she meant: The times today, though no less interesting, seem less intense. We have the Internet to be grateful or to blame for that.
In the '60s, debate over issues became passionate public roars that echoed across college campuses and street corners and parks. Sometimes, the heated words of debate turned into bloody confrontations.
Today, more debate over issues occurs in online forums, chat rooms and weblogs than in public. It is immediate, nationwide and as intense as the debate in the '60s, especially in connection with the overriding issue of each time: the Vietnam War then, the war in Iraq now.
But, by occurring online, much of the passion people express about the Iraq war does not reverberate with the same urgency and intensity as passions did over the Vietnam War. And that passion needs to surface more openly because the times today are more than interesting, they are deadly serious in the same way the times were when the threat of nuclear annihilation seemed more than a remote possibility.
In 1947, the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists debuted its Doomsday Clock to show how close the world was to nuclear war, midnight being zero hour.
When the clock first appeared, it stood at seven minutes to midnight. It came its closest to midnight, two minutes, in 1953 when, within a span of nine months, thermonuclear devices were tested by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was furthest from midnight, 17 minutes, in 1991. That's when the long-stalled Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union was signed.
Today, the clock is set at seven minutes to midnight and has been there since Feb. 27, 2002, when it was moved closer for reasons that included too little progress on global nuclear disarmament had been made, nuclear weapons materials worldwide were less secure and the United States continued to prefer unilateral action rather than cooperation through international diplomacy. (You can find all the reasons for the time change at http://www.thebulletin.org/media/current.html.)
A song by the Fugs, an irreverent '60s band, always reminded me of the Doomsday Clock. It begins, "Four minutes to 12 and there's a madman at the wheel."
That's always been the fear, that a madman at the wheel will take us on a journey from which there is no return. We don't have a madman at the wheel, but the more we learn about the Bush administration's march to war against Iraq, the more it becomes clear that fanatics are driving our government.
Fanatics do not see the errors of their way. They refuse to adjust plans that do not go as they intended. They steer their course blindly and let neither facts nor reason sway them.
We have begun to see the depth of this fanaticism in information being gleaned by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, the 9/11 commission. We have begun to see how fanatical these leaders are from the books "Against all Enemies," by Richard A. Clarke, former national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism; and "The Price of Loyalty," for which former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was the main source.
These, of course, have been dismissed as partisan attacks against the president or as the rantings of disgruntled former employees. What can't be dismissed is that the facts, characterizations and observations are of a piece, pointing to a White House of zealots obsessed from Day One with going after Saddam Hussein.
The release Monday of Washington Post reporter and editor Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack" gives us a more detailed and more authoritative view of how President Bush and his key advisers, by their own accounts, turned the war on terror not merely into the war on Iraq, but possibly as a mission driven by a higher authority.
There isn't much people can do much when a madman has the wheel except go along for the ride and hope for the best, as the Iraqis did under Saddam, the Russians did under Joseph Stalin and the Germans did under Adolf Hitler. But we can do something about the fanatics who have come to power. We can vote them out of office and deny them any chance to turn their fanaticism into madness." -Richard Larsen-
The "feel" of today's anti-war movement isn't as fevrent or passionate as I remember the anti-war movement swirling around the Vietnam fiasco. Perhaps I long for the connection of a cause that gripped so many of my generation, eventually rousing us into a collective rage that was finally heard, ending another great tragedy of human kind. Seems that we're on the verge, (or maybe way past the edge), of the next example of human stupidity manifest as resident evil. It might be time to take my voice to the streets, the malls, the soccer fields, the corporate offices, the coffee shops and car dealerships, and start the next revolution of reason and compassion. If the giant mustard plant grows from a single seed the size of a pin head, why can't I start something fine and great by the strength of my will and conviction??? The answer is that I can, we all can, the answer is in the doing...
There are massive "dead zones" in the Earth's oceans as reported by a committee of scientists concerning the health of planet earth. Do you know what happens when the oceans gasp their last breath...We do too. The time is now, because soon we won't be able to live behind the protective curtain of 'out of sight, out of mind' anymore. As gloomy as this all sounds, there is a bright side to all of this. When things are at their very worst, we humans often are at our best! It is never too late to become what we're meant to be...
"A friend, a few decades younger than I, recently professed a sort of envy that I had lived in interesting times. She referred, of course, to the '60s, that era when possibilities seemed endless and schisms threatened every aspect of society.
I don't think my friend was expressing a wish that things would be more interesting now if we could re-experience the '60s, but I understood what she meant: The times today, though no less interesting, seem less intense. We have the Internet to be grateful or to blame for that.
In the '60s, debate over issues became passionate public roars that echoed across college campuses and street corners and parks. Sometimes, the heated words of debate turned into bloody confrontations.
Today, more debate over issues occurs in online forums, chat rooms and weblogs than in public. It is immediate, nationwide and as intense as the debate in the '60s, especially in connection with the overriding issue of each time: the Vietnam War then, the war in Iraq now.
But, by occurring online, much of the passion people express about the Iraq war does not reverberate with the same urgency and intensity as passions did over the Vietnam War. And that passion needs to surface more openly because the times today are more than interesting, they are deadly serious in the same way the times were when the threat of nuclear annihilation seemed more than a remote possibility.
In 1947, the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists debuted its Doomsday Clock to show how close the world was to nuclear war, midnight being zero hour.
When the clock first appeared, it stood at seven minutes to midnight. It came its closest to midnight, two minutes, in 1953 when, within a span of nine months, thermonuclear devices were tested by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was furthest from midnight, 17 minutes, in 1991. That's when the long-stalled Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union was signed.
Today, the clock is set at seven minutes to midnight and has been there since Feb. 27, 2002, when it was moved closer for reasons that included too little progress on global nuclear disarmament had been made, nuclear weapons materials worldwide were less secure and the United States continued to prefer unilateral action rather than cooperation through international diplomacy. (You can find all the reasons for the time change at http://www.thebulletin.org/media/current.html.)
A song by the Fugs, an irreverent '60s band, always reminded me of the Doomsday Clock. It begins, "Four minutes to 12 and there's a madman at the wheel."
That's always been the fear, that a madman at the wheel will take us on a journey from which there is no return. We don't have a madman at the wheel, but the more we learn about the Bush administration's march to war against Iraq, the more it becomes clear that fanatics are driving our government.
Fanatics do not see the errors of their way. They refuse to adjust plans that do not go as they intended. They steer their course blindly and let neither facts nor reason sway them.
We have begun to see the depth of this fanaticism in information being gleaned by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, the 9/11 commission. We have begun to see how fanatical these leaders are from the books "Against all Enemies," by Richard A. Clarke, former national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism; and "The Price of Loyalty," for which former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was the main source.
These, of course, have been dismissed as partisan attacks against the president or as the rantings of disgruntled former employees. What can't be dismissed is that the facts, characterizations and observations are of a piece, pointing to a White House of zealots obsessed from Day One with going after Saddam Hussein.
The release Monday of Washington Post reporter and editor Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack" gives us a more detailed and more authoritative view of how President Bush and his key advisers, by their own accounts, turned the war on terror not merely into the war on Iraq, but possibly as a mission driven by a higher authority.
There isn't much people can do much when a madman has the wheel except go along for the ride and hope for the best, as the Iraqis did under Saddam, the Russians did under Joseph Stalin and the Germans did under Adolf Hitler. But we can do something about the fanatics who have come to power. We can vote them out of office and deny them any chance to turn their fanaticism into madness." -Richard Larsen-
The "feel" of today's anti-war movement isn't as fevrent or passionate as I remember the anti-war movement swirling around the Vietnam fiasco. Perhaps I long for the connection of a cause that gripped so many of my generation, eventually rousing us into a collective rage that was finally heard, ending another great tragedy of human kind. Seems that we're on the verge, (or maybe way past the edge), of the next example of human stupidity manifest as resident evil. It might be time to take my voice to the streets, the malls, the soccer fields, the corporate offices, the coffee shops and car dealerships, and start the next revolution of reason and compassion. If the giant mustard plant grows from a single seed the size of a pin head, why can't I start something fine and great by the strength of my will and conviction??? The answer is that I can, we all can, the answer is in the doing...
There are massive "dead zones" in the Earth's oceans as reported by a committee of scientists concerning the health of planet earth. Do you know what happens when the oceans gasp their last breath...We do too. The time is now, because soon we won't be able to live behind the protective curtain of 'out of sight, out of mind' anymore. As gloomy as this all sounds, there is a bright side to all of this. When things are at their very worst, we humans often are at our best! It is never too late to become what we're meant to be...
Thursday, April 15, 2004
The following is a quote from the book WHY WE RUN, by Bernd Heinrich. He had asked his father, a German who had fought in two world wars for Germany, whether or not he should enlist and fight for his country, the USA, during the Vietnam War:
"America is an experiment," he said, and after a long pause continued, "where the driving force is individuals chasing money. I would not risk my bones for a society guided by this principal."
Regardless of how this opinion makes one feel, there does seem to be some truth to it, and in light of the current world condition, perhaps more than a little of the calamity can be traced to the mechanisms that drive this country. Sometimes an outsider's opinion can slow you down just enough to see things that have been right there in front of you, but that had been hidden behind the cultural shrouds of one's origins. We are what we are...but then again maybe we are so much more...
"To a worm in horseradish, the whole world is horseradish."
-Yiddish proverb-
"America is an experiment," he said, and after a long pause continued, "where the driving force is individuals chasing money. I would not risk my bones for a society guided by this principal."
Regardless of how this opinion makes one feel, there does seem to be some truth to it, and in light of the current world condition, perhaps more than a little of the calamity can be traced to the mechanisms that drive this country. Sometimes an outsider's opinion can slow you down just enough to see things that have been right there in front of you, but that had been hidden behind the cultural shrouds of one's origins. We are what we are...but then again maybe we are so much more...
"To a worm in horseradish, the whole world is horseradish."
-Yiddish proverb-
Monday, April 12, 2004
The following reader's opinion appeared in today's Ventura County Star. It speaks my own mind quite succinctly:
"I found myself deeply offended by something I recently saw in The Star.
No, not the picture of the brutal deaths of U.S. citizen/soldiers in Iraq at the hands of the liberated Iraqis, but by letters complaining about the picture being printed. Apparently, our sensitive citizens can only take their reality from oversimplified reality TV.
This collective wish to hide or pretend there are no real costs -- continued horrific, brutal costs in lives and blood and treasure with no end in sight to the war to liberate Iraq -- has costs of its own.
God forbid children get a glimpse of the horrors of this unnecessary war of choice to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. Better we all conspire along with our perpetually campaigning or vacationing war president to hide the truth, hide the coffins that arrive in a steady stream to Dover AFB, hide the thousands of permanently scarred GIs, hide the cost of tax cuts and loss of civil rights this president has imposed upon us and our grandchildren.
For Americans to get the sense that this war of choice -- foisted upon us by lies and exaggerations -- is not worth it, would be to risk his defeat for re-election, and end Bush's annual $300 tax-cut bribes for our votes".
-- Tom Kaiser, Hueneme
"War of choice", (whose choice?), is what we are engaging in, not a war of necessity or self-preservation, and the cost we are paying and being asked to continue to pay indefinitely is disproportionately high, i.e., the means certainly does not justify the end result. Do we run the risk of Iraq becoming a modern era Vietnam??? Wake up people, it already has!!! George W. and his cronies believe they can hold our will hostage with simplistic reasoning and superficial justification thinly veiled over the reciprocal of democracy and justice. There was NO connection between Al-Qaida and Iraq until our government created one by lies and subsequent military action, but now Al-Qaida may be the very least of our worries as an entire region/culture/religion looks to end our reign at the top.
Could 9/11 have been prevented? Probably not. Did this government over-react? Spectacularly, and any connection used to convince us that our current foreign policy is "justified" can be easily debuked with very little effort and truth-seeking. Yet it seems that all George has to do is evoke some substance-free moronic excuse in that home-spun Texas drawl of his, and legions of normally intelligent adults in this country settle down and fall in line, ready to send their sons and daughters squarely into harm's way in pursuit of nation building and continued corporate dominance of our society. What the fuck America! We have allowed our country to become the very opposite of what the Founding Fathers envisioned, and the affluent masses seem either okay with this, or merely too apathetic to enter into the realm of thinking for one's self. Ultimately this dynamic, apathy and the subsequent kaos it brings about, has caused the unraveling of ALL great societies. A little historical research will bring this frighteningly into view for anyone brave enough to look into the past and thereby gain new perspective on the present.
If each and every individual would simply take the time to carefully and thoughtfully consider what we are being fed, daily and relentlessly, and then interject what we are probably living on planet Earth to learn, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", you'll see that the math in the current equation doesn't work. Once the pursuit of truth is undertaken it's up to the individual to choose how to continue on, either in ignorance and oblivion, or fighting the good fight. Iraq wasn't, isn't and will never be a good fight, and the only way the madness will start to get better is via the individual. We all have the power to change the way of things, but it may take a great deal of courage and commitment to face up to a government run amok and bent on eroding our civil liberties and freedoms through a daily barrage of fear and corporate coercion that runs contrary to the original ideals this country was founded upon. Wake up and smell the coffee, but you may want to ask for a refill from someone other than George W.
"The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves". -Plato-
"I found myself deeply offended by something I recently saw in The Star.
No, not the picture of the brutal deaths of U.S. citizen/soldiers in Iraq at the hands of the liberated Iraqis, but by letters complaining about the picture being printed. Apparently, our sensitive citizens can only take their reality from oversimplified reality TV.
This collective wish to hide or pretend there are no real costs -- continued horrific, brutal costs in lives and blood and treasure with no end in sight to the war to liberate Iraq -- has costs of its own.
God forbid children get a glimpse of the horrors of this unnecessary war of choice to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. Better we all conspire along with our perpetually campaigning or vacationing war president to hide the truth, hide the coffins that arrive in a steady stream to Dover AFB, hide the thousands of permanently scarred GIs, hide the cost of tax cuts and loss of civil rights this president has imposed upon us and our grandchildren.
For Americans to get the sense that this war of choice -- foisted upon us by lies and exaggerations -- is not worth it, would be to risk his defeat for re-election, and end Bush's annual $300 tax-cut bribes for our votes".
-- Tom Kaiser, Hueneme
"War of choice", (whose choice?), is what we are engaging in, not a war of necessity or self-preservation, and the cost we are paying and being asked to continue to pay indefinitely is disproportionately high, i.e., the means certainly does not justify the end result. Do we run the risk of Iraq becoming a modern era Vietnam??? Wake up people, it already has!!! George W. and his cronies believe they can hold our will hostage with simplistic reasoning and superficial justification thinly veiled over the reciprocal of democracy and justice. There was NO connection between Al-Qaida and Iraq until our government created one by lies and subsequent military action, but now Al-Qaida may be the very least of our worries as an entire region/culture/religion looks to end our reign at the top.
Could 9/11 have been prevented? Probably not. Did this government over-react? Spectacularly, and any connection used to convince us that our current foreign policy is "justified" can be easily debuked with very little effort and truth-seeking. Yet it seems that all George has to do is evoke some substance-free moronic excuse in that home-spun Texas drawl of his, and legions of normally intelligent adults in this country settle down and fall in line, ready to send their sons and daughters squarely into harm's way in pursuit of nation building and continued corporate dominance of our society. What the fuck America! We have allowed our country to become the very opposite of what the Founding Fathers envisioned, and the affluent masses seem either okay with this, or merely too apathetic to enter into the realm of thinking for one's self. Ultimately this dynamic, apathy and the subsequent kaos it brings about, has caused the unraveling of ALL great societies. A little historical research will bring this frighteningly into view for anyone brave enough to look into the past and thereby gain new perspective on the present.
If each and every individual would simply take the time to carefully and thoughtfully consider what we are being fed, daily and relentlessly, and then interject what we are probably living on planet Earth to learn, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", you'll see that the math in the current equation doesn't work. Once the pursuit of truth is undertaken it's up to the individual to choose how to continue on, either in ignorance and oblivion, or fighting the good fight. Iraq wasn't, isn't and will never be a good fight, and the only way the madness will start to get better is via the individual. We all have the power to change the way of things, but it may take a great deal of courage and commitment to face up to a government run amok and bent on eroding our civil liberties and freedoms through a daily barrage of fear and corporate coercion that runs contrary to the original ideals this country was founded upon. Wake up and smell the coffee, but you may want to ask for a refill from someone other than George W.
"The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves". -Plato-
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Saturday, April 03, 2004
The bodies of 4 Americans; mutilated, burnt, drug through the streets in a foreign land, and finally hung from a bridge for public viewing and ridicule. Along this journey the bodies where abused in spectacularly violent fashion, sometimes by children. Some segments of the media chose to show images of this carnage to their subscribers/viewers. Hard to look at, but maybe harder not to peek at, our curiosity tugging at our sleeve. Are we asking ourselves where such anger towards us begins?
In so many parts of the world, carnage such as this has become part of the landscape, no more escapable than the "daily commute" is in this country. To the people in Iraq, the Gaza Strip, Somalia, East Timor, Afghanistan, the Congo, Sudan, (I could go on and on and on), scenes such as this, to varying degrees, are "acceptable" simply because the people are powerless to escape viewing them or living in an area where daily violence is part of the environment. Those of us fortunate enough to live in America are insulated from this for the most part, with only the occasional image of "hell on Earth" slipping under the radar. And because most of this happens so far away from us physically and emotionally, we may react with horror and abhorance initially, but then we recede back into our life of the 40 hour work week and the "six dollar burger". For the most part, we Americans remain unmoved at a deep level, at least at a deep enough level that would call upon us to attempt any real change.
If the media was bold enough to bring the reality squarely into our homes, with graphic images of how it really is, of the magnitude of death and destruction occurring in so many places outside of the USA, would it affect us collectively and to such a level that we would awaken from our slumber of ignorance and actually do something to effect a true and lasting change? Maybe we need to be sickened to the point of action for a change. I don't want to see violence and its devastation on my doorstep everyday, but I also don't want my head to be buried in the sand forever. Perhaps we can honor the dead much better by not allowing our gaze to be deflected elsewhere, by sharing their terrors and departure from this reality with 20/20 vision. Maybe this would rattle our cages in a way they need to be rattled. Not looking doesn't do anything to resolve the central issue of human beings doing despicable things to other human beings. Choosing not to look may make us feel safe and better about our own lives, but "out of sight, out of mind" does nothing to move the human race forward, and ultimately it may bring about the demise of us all.
Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous, I think I know who you may be, and thanks for your musical quotes via the comments section last posting. It's amazing how there seems to be a song or stanza from a song for every emotion or thought encountered by humans. Music to me is passion manifested and served up on a plate to be feasted upon again and again. Food for the soul, music can soothe the savage beast, inspire the down trodden, make one smile as memories flood the mind, and sometimes make one think of something greater and grander than all this, perhaps a glimpse of the divine. What is it about a series of sounds, strung together in a certain way and interwoven with words that by themselves mean little, but coupled with music create mood and magic? Musicians are portals to the infinite for the rest of us I think, more so than an artist who chooses the canvas or a poet who pilots a pen. Music conquers so many senses all at the same time that it can easily overwhelm. Imagine a world without music...impossible for me to conceive of a vision of that place.
"Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together".
-Eugene Ionesco-
"I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth; and truth rewarded me". -Simone de Beauvoir-
In so many parts of the world, carnage such as this has become part of the landscape, no more escapable than the "daily commute" is in this country. To the people in Iraq, the Gaza Strip, Somalia, East Timor, Afghanistan, the Congo, Sudan, (I could go on and on and on), scenes such as this, to varying degrees, are "acceptable" simply because the people are powerless to escape viewing them or living in an area where daily violence is part of the environment. Those of us fortunate enough to live in America are insulated from this for the most part, with only the occasional image of "hell on Earth" slipping under the radar. And because most of this happens so far away from us physically and emotionally, we may react with horror and abhorance initially, but then we recede back into our life of the 40 hour work week and the "six dollar burger". For the most part, we Americans remain unmoved at a deep level, at least at a deep enough level that would call upon us to attempt any real change.
If the media was bold enough to bring the reality squarely into our homes, with graphic images of how it really is, of the magnitude of death and destruction occurring in so many places outside of the USA, would it affect us collectively and to such a level that we would awaken from our slumber of ignorance and actually do something to effect a true and lasting change? Maybe we need to be sickened to the point of action for a change. I don't want to see violence and its devastation on my doorstep everyday, but I also don't want my head to be buried in the sand forever. Perhaps we can honor the dead much better by not allowing our gaze to be deflected elsewhere, by sharing their terrors and departure from this reality with 20/20 vision. Maybe this would rattle our cages in a way they need to be rattled. Not looking doesn't do anything to resolve the central issue of human beings doing despicable things to other human beings. Choosing not to look may make us feel safe and better about our own lives, but "out of sight, out of mind" does nothing to move the human race forward, and ultimately it may bring about the demise of us all.
Mr. or Mrs. Anonymous, I think I know who you may be, and thanks for your musical quotes via the comments section last posting. It's amazing how there seems to be a song or stanza from a song for every emotion or thought encountered by humans. Music to me is passion manifested and served up on a plate to be feasted upon again and again. Food for the soul, music can soothe the savage beast, inspire the down trodden, make one smile as memories flood the mind, and sometimes make one think of something greater and grander than all this, perhaps a glimpse of the divine. What is it about a series of sounds, strung together in a certain way and interwoven with words that by themselves mean little, but coupled with music create mood and magic? Musicians are portals to the infinite for the rest of us I think, more so than an artist who chooses the canvas or a poet who pilots a pen. Music conquers so many senses all at the same time that it can easily overwhelm. Imagine a world without music...impossible for me to conceive of a vision of that place.
"Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together".
-Eugene Ionesco-
"I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth; and truth rewarded me". -Simone de Beauvoir-
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Long day at work...big, bad air traffic control ju-ju was all around. I walked out the side door into the sunlight with tired head, tired eyes, and tired soul. "What the hell am I doing still talking to bloody airplanes?" I thought to myself, knowing full well what the answer was and is. Dragging my carcass to the car, I departed for the quieter realm of my daughter's softball game, secure in the knowledge that I didn't have to "plug in" for another sixteen hours. Life, in all its infinite measurements can sometimes stand still, held at bay by a fresh breeze or the single off a young girl's bat. Stop, smell, reflect...Ah yes, it is a rose!
As you drive, the radio tells the tale of four more dead, their bodies charred and damaged by an anger and rage we can't comprehend, by a force mysterious yet all too familiar these days, mere meat for all to see. The ravaged still fighting to vanquish, the defeated rising again and again to defeat. The battle is lost, the war remains, constant reminders of nothing gained, nothing gained. What constitutes "victory", and will we have enough innocence left to recognize its arrival? What's to become of the sons and daughters? American or Iraqi, they're all the same, what's to become of them Condoleezza? Can you tell me George, or Dick, or Rummy??? Charred or otherwise, we're all just meat to you...
Tomorrow I'll go to work and plug in, it's what I do. Perhaps I'll stop from time to time and consider my good fortune and how it fits into the grand scheme. Perhaps I'll resort to mere survival, thwarting all attempts on my sanity with divine insanity, dark humor at the expense of all. Maybe I'll catch a whisper of something radiant, something unblemished and fine, a shiny babble of some long ago memory that calls me back to days of the not-so-long ago me. That freckled boy with holes in his soles, the one who wanted always to run with the wind. I think he survived and is lurking there just out of sight, afraid, but curious as to whom he becomes. I listen when he beckons, a deep longing for what I once accepted welling up from my center. "Run with me" he says, "Run like the wind, run until it hurts, run through all the pain and beyond". I want to, and maybe we can run to Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, or even 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Maybe the sight of me and my young freckled friend, running with the wind in our hair and nostrils, faster and faster, maybe this sight would be enough, enough to stop the world.
As you drive, the radio tells the tale of four more dead, their bodies charred and damaged by an anger and rage we can't comprehend, by a force mysterious yet all too familiar these days, mere meat for all to see. The ravaged still fighting to vanquish, the defeated rising again and again to defeat. The battle is lost, the war remains, constant reminders of nothing gained, nothing gained. What constitutes "victory", and will we have enough innocence left to recognize its arrival? What's to become of the sons and daughters? American or Iraqi, they're all the same, what's to become of them Condoleezza? Can you tell me George, or Dick, or Rummy??? Charred or otherwise, we're all just meat to you...
Tomorrow I'll go to work and plug in, it's what I do. Perhaps I'll stop from time to time and consider my good fortune and how it fits into the grand scheme. Perhaps I'll resort to mere survival, thwarting all attempts on my sanity with divine insanity, dark humor at the expense of all. Maybe I'll catch a whisper of something radiant, something unblemished and fine, a shiny babble of some long ago memory that calls me back to days of the not-so-long ago me. That freckled boy with holes in his soles, the one who wanted always to run with the wind. I think he survived and is lurking there just out of sight, afraid, but curious as to whom he becomes. I listen when he beckons, a deep longing for what I once accepted welling up from my center. "Run with me" he says, "Run like the wind, run until it hurts, run through all the pain and beyond". I want to, and maybe we can run to Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, or even 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Maybe the sight of me and my young freckled friend, running with the wind in our hair and nostrils, faster and faster, maybe this sight would be enough, enough to stop the world.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
NEWS FLASH!!! So-Damn-Insane is not cooperating with his interrogators, and they are currently learning very little from him about the mess in Iraq!
I love this type of cutting-edge "journalism" and the knowledge it brings into my life. I was certain that once Mr. Hussein realized the grave error of his ways he would cooperate fully, and would in fact tell us how many innocents he put to death, and just where those WMD's are hidden. Perhaps he's just milking it for the companionship and camaraderie he's found within the FBI & CIA. I guess I just don't know who to trust or believe in anymore. Why can't all the evil doers out there just play nice?
Anyway, time for me to head out for work, secure in the knowledge that the U. S. Government and media have my back...Live Large, but pay attention as that's always your best defense!
I love this type of cutting-edge "journalism" and the knowledge it brings into my life. I was certain that once Mr. Hussein realized the grave error of his ways he would cooperate fully, and would in fact tell us how many innocents he put to death, and just where those WMD's are hidden. Perhaps he's just milking it for the companionship and camaraderie he's found within the FBI & CIA. I guess I just don't know who to trust or believe in anymore. Why can't all the evil doers out there just play nice?
Anyway, time for me to head out for work, secure in the knowledge that the U. S. Government and media have my back...Live Large, but pay attention as that's always your best defense!
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Good piece nephew 'C', you're definitely thinking outside of the box. It's very good indeed to see the next generation taking a thoughtful stance, gives me hope for the survival of humanity. Barry does, however, make an interesting point. I want to discuss those three words in question though, respect, understanding and compassion, and throw another log on the fire.
Respect and understanding seem to both be subjective, that is both actions are based solely on the perspective of the giver. If, for instance, someone is a great country western musician and I hate country, I may not be able to see beyond the genre and show respect for the artist's talent because I don't understand his efforts and ability as my perception is clouded by my own limited thinking regarding country western music. Respect does seem to be, as Barry says, "an earned gratuity" in the eyes of the giver.
Compassion is different in my mind as it doesn't require direct personal knowledge of others, but is instead offered to all, when done in its purest form, simply because we ARE all the same when you cut through the layers of life and experience we all coat ourselves with. Compassion is more a way of life, a connection to things great and small, good and bad, right and wrong, the "seeing" beyond the appearance of things. Compassion generates not from conscious thought, but from becoming truly immersed in being human and all that brings with it. If you reach that state, compassion flows through you and from you, your conscious mind perhaps unaware of compassion's presence. Does a mass murder deserve our RESPECT? Probably not. Will we UNDERSTAND the mass murder's motivations? Probably never. Does the mass murder deserve and need our COMPASSION? Yes, because he/she is one of us...
I went surfing the last two days, classic Southern California days of sun and the sublime. Yesterday I had dolphins within 10'-15' of me on several occasions, very cool. They sometimes surface and roll onto their side and stare at me with coal-black eyes filled with warmth and mirth, that comical grin permanently etched into smooth gray skin. I often wonder what they think of me, a semi-bloated creature stuffed into fake skin, doing my best to play in their realm, but never coming close to their abilities. Do they connect me and my kind to the demise of their world? Do they wish I'd leave? Or do they preach what they seem to practice; quiet tolerance for humans and our intrusions into their tranquility? How would we react if dolphins dumped their waste in our backyards, trapped some of us in nets until drown, and caught us for research, strapping devices to our backs to see where we go? Political leaders around the globe would probably declare an all out war on dolphins, and other sea life would become collateral damage. It is strange indeed that we humans seem to have placed ourselves at the center of all things, and seem to view all other life as being here for the good of humanity, to be dealt with based on how we humans are affected by their presence in "our" world.
Gary, your poem was moving. It spoke of detachment and a longing for tangible connections in the same breath, and made me want to embrace the next stranger I encounter. Good. I'm really digging this blog and what it's stirring up; resurrected friendships, insight and reflective moods that come upon me more often these days, a certain spring in my step that's been long absent. Thanks for the stuff you said about my Mom, Barry. There are moments where I wish so much that I could talk with her and glean what I could from her wisdom and aura, but loss and carrying on are the way of this life. Someday we'll all be gone...so let's have a ball while we're here, i.e., LIVE LARGE. Keep the juice flowing my friends and family. Share what you have and you'll be given much more in return. Later days...
p.s.-The Lakers appear to be on a roll, and I say subjectively that they're going to win it all!
"I fear nothing, I hope for nothing, I am free.
-Nikos Kazantzakis-
Respect and understanding seem to both be subjective, that is both actions are based solely on the perspective of the giver. If, for instance, someone is a great country western musician and I hate country, I may not be able to see beyond the genre and show respect for the artist's talent because I don't understand his efforts and ability as my perception is clouded by my own limited thinking regarding country western music. Respect does seem to be, as Barry says, "an earned gratuity" in the eyes of the giver.
Compassion is different in my mind as it doesn't require direct personal knowledge of others, but is instead offered to all, when done in its purest form, simply because we ARE all the same when you cut through the layers of life and experience we all coat ourselves with. Compassion is more a way of life, a connection to things great and small, good and bad, right and wrong, the "seeing" beyond the appearance of things. Compassion generates not from conscious thought, but from becoming truly immersed in being human and all that brings with it. If you reach that state, compassion flows through you and from you, your conscious mind perhaps unaware of compassion's presence. Does a mass murder deserve our RESPECT? Probably not. Will we UNDERSTAND the mass murder's motivations? Probably never. Does the mass murder deserve and need our COMPASSION? Yes, because he/she is one of us...
I went surfing the last two days, classic Southern California days of sun and the sublime. Yesterday I had dolphins within 10'-15' of me on several occasions, very cool. They sometimes surface and roll onto their side and stare at me with coal-black eyes filled with warmth and mirth, that comical grin permanently etched into smooth gray skin. I often wonder what they think of me, a semi-bloated creature stuffed into fake skin, doing my best to play in their realm, but never coming close to their abilities. Do they connect me and my kind to the demise of their world? Do they wish I'd leave? Or do they preach what they seem to practice; quiet tolerance for humans and our intrusions into their tranquility? How would we react if dolphins dumped their waste in our backyards, trapped some of us in nets until drown, and caught us for research, strapping devices to our backs to see where we go? Political leaders around the globe would probably declare an all out war on dolphins, and other sea life would become collateral damage. It is strange indeed that we humans seem to have placed ourselves at the center of all things, and seem to view all other life as being here for the good of humanity, to be dealt with based on how we humans are affected by their presence in "our" world.
Gary, your poem was moving. It spoke of detachment and a longing for tangible connections in the same breath, and made me want to embrace the next stranger I encounter. Good. I'm really digging this blog and what it's stirring up; resurrected friendships, insight and reflective moods that come upon me more often these days, a certain spring in my step that's been long absent. Thanks for the stuff you said about my Mom, Barry. There are moments where I wish so much that I could talk with her and glean what I could from her wisdom and aura, but loss and carrying on are the way of this life. Someday we'll all be gone...so let's have a ball while we're here, i.e., LIVE LARGE. Keep the juice flowing my friends and family. Share what you have and you'll be given much more in return. Later days...
p.s.-The Lakers appear to be on a roll, and I say subjectively that they're going to win it all!
"I fear nothing, I hope for nothing, I am free.
-Nikos Kazantzakis-
Friday, March 26, 2004
Stepping those feet down a busy, city sidewalk
Looking both ways
Seizing any gaze while endeavoring not to balk
at the faces of the empty and the occupied
before you cross
Was that a look of joy or a tear just cried
Careful to choose your expression
otherwise you might get hit
Its shadow bears the fruit of an honest inflection
Clouds form and fracture unnoticed overhead
and that would change everything
A minute without verdict
becomes a lifetime without finding instead
The concrete isn’t the only thing faulted
How can we help from being who we are
Looking both ways
Seizing any gaze while endeavoring not to balk
at the faces of the empty and the occupied
before you cross
Was that a look of joy or a tear just cried
Careful to choose your expression
otherwise you might get hit
Its shadow bears the fruit of an honest inflection
Clouds form and fracture unnoticed overhead
and that would change everything
A minute without verdict
becomes a lifetime without finding instead
The concrete isn’t the only thing faulted
How can we help from being who we are
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
About 10-12 years ago my mother read the entire Koran, an English translation of course. After she was done she informed us that we should all be very concerned about the Arab world and Islamic fundamentalists. We all said "Okay Mom", and then went on about our business. The current world climate implies that perhaps my dear old mom was on to something, but the cause and effect may be much different from what she envisioned.
I don't profess to know much about Islam or the Arab culture, but I am certain that being human, they have hopes, dreams, goals and aspirations like any dyed-in-the-wool, red-blooded, patriotic American does. The problem is that the vast majority of Arabs are materially poor, have few rights and personal freedoms as we know them, and they are raised in a society that values above all else loyalty and blind allegiance to their religious leaders and whatever rhetoric they spew forth. The western world is viewed as decadent, and the heart and soul of western civilization is the USA. From a fundamentalist Islamic perspective it must be downright painful to share the planet with us Westerners. And when the people you abhor seem to have everything while your people are trying to survive any number of hardships that most Americans can't even imagine, well, it's very easy to see how we have reached the current state of affairs on Mother Earth. They want what we have, power & control (albeit in their own vision) and would wipe us clean from the face of the planet if they could. There are many among us who would do the same if it weren't for civilized conventions that dictate otherwise. On top of the naturally occurring clash of cultures, we have been meddling in Arab affairs for years to facilitate our way of life, i.e., the free and unhindered flow of black gold, Texas tea. Imagine if Iran or Saudi Arabia was doing the same to us! The question "Who's right and who's wrong" doesn't even apply here. Regardless of which side of the fence you reside on, you're being fueled by the same motivations once you scrape off the cultural superficiality. We are all humans, and it's luck of the draw where one is born, and therefore what we become. My nephew and niece, Korean by birth, but raised in the heart of Iowa culture and Iowan to the bone, are living proof that we are a product of our environment. We are all who we are because of our life experience and our role modeling. Very few of us ever break out of the box into which we're born, and perhaps if we do, we don't readily admit to seeing the other guy's viewpoint for fear of retribution from our cultural brothers and sisters. Ultimately we do have to defend ourselves at some level as the cultural voids that separate the people of this planet will always be there to some degree. However, the term "Defending the American way of life" causes me some discomfort, because at some level not so far below the surface our way of life, and the measures taken to keep it chugging along, keep the pot boiling to the point of overflowing. We forget that we live in a glass house with the rest of humanity watching our every move. Consider that as you go about your daily routine, and then think about what our foreign policy must say to all the other humans in far away lands who are directly impacted by it every waking moment. No wonder we are hated so much, and it's hard for me to say anymore that "they" have it coming, or that spreading democracy is the way to save the world. Ultimately, it is important to remember that propaganda is everywhere, whether it's some desolate Third-world nation, or our own backyard.
Maybe Bill Maher is on to something, get all the young Arab males laid on a regular basis. And while we're at it we may as well get and keep them stoned, and teach them to play a musical instrument because musicians never start wars. Maybe we should teach them about art & literature, and get them on a well balanced diet, a 40 hour work week and 2 weeks paid vacation each year. Maybe if they had pets who got regular visits to the vet they'd learn how to care for each other and us also. If only they were Americans...
"What the catepillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly".
-Richard Bach-
I don't profess to know much about Islam or the Arab culture, but I am certain that being human, they have hopes, dreams, goals and aspirations like any dyed-in-the-wool, red-blooded, patriotic American does. The problem is that the vast majority of Arabs are materially poor, have few rights and personal freedoms as we know them, and they are raised in a society that values above all else loyalty and blind allegiance to their religious leaders and whatever rhetoric they spew forth. The western world is viewed as decadent, and the heart and soul of western civilization is the USA. From a fundamentalist Islamic perspective it must be downright painful to share the planet with us Westerners. And when the people you abhor seem to have everything while your people are trying to survive any number of hardships that most Americans can't even imagine, well, it's very easy to see how we have reached the current state of affairs on Mother Earth. They want what we have, power & control (albeit in their own vision) and would wipe us clean from the face of the planet if they could. There are many among us who would do the same if it weren't for civilized conventions that dictate otherwise. On top of the naturally occurring clash of cultures, we have been meddling in Arab affairs for years to facilitate our way of life, i.e., the free and unhindered flow of black gold, Texas tea. Imagine if Iran or Saudi Arabia was doing the same to us! The question "Who's right and who's wrong" doesn't even apply here. Regardless of which side of the fence you reside on, you're being fueled by the same motivations once you scrape off the cultural superficiality. We are all humans, and it's luck of the draw where one is born, and therefore what we become. My nephew and niece, Korean by birth, but raised in the heart of Iowa culture and Iowan to the bone, are living proof that we are a product of our environment. We are all who we are because of our life experience and our role modeling. Very few of us ever break out of the box into which we're born, and perhaps if we do, we don't readily admit to seeing the other guy's viewpoint for fear of retribution from our cultural brothers and sisters. Ultimately we do have to defend ourselves at some level as the cultural voids that separate the people of this planet will always be there to some degree. However, the term "Defending the American way of life" causes me some discomfort, because at some level not so far below the surface our way of life, and the measures taken to keep it chugging along, keep the pot boiling to the point of overflowing. We forget that we live in a glass house with the rest of humanity watching our every move. Consider that as you go about your daily routine, and then think about what our foreign policy must say to all the other humans in far away lands who are directly impacted by it every waking moment. No wonder we are hated so much, and it's hard for me to say anymore that "they" have it coming, or that spreading democracy is the way to save the world. Ultimately, it is important to remember that propaganda is everywhere, whether it's some desolate Third-world nation, or our own backyard.
Maybe Bill Maher is on to something, get all the young Arab males laid on a regular basis. And while we're at it we may as well get and keep them stoned, and teach them to play a musical instrument because musicians never start wars. Maybe we should teach them about art & literature, and get them on a well balanced diet, a 40 hour work week and 2 weeks paid vacation each year. Maybe if they had pets who got regular visits to the vet they'd learn how to care for each other and us also. If only they were Americans...
"What the catepillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly".
-Richard Bach-
The following is in response to the CAIR article posted on Beckie's Blog. Although Word checked it at fewer than 1000 characters, the comment section disallowed such a large number--perhaps there are other forces at work there...
And finally, New Rule: If we really want to stop terrorism, we have to get Muslim men laid. Five British Muslims who were recently sent home from our prison at Guantanamo, charge that their American captors brought in prostitutes to taunt them, because most had never even seen a naked woman before.
And it made me wonder how many members of Al Qaeda have even dated a girl? We should hire women to infiltrate Al Qaeda cells and fuck them. Things would change quickly because young Muslim men don't really hate America. They're jealous of America. We have rap videos and the Hilton sisters and magazines with titles like Barely Legal. You know what's "barely legal" in Afghanistan? Everything!
Young men need sex, and if they don't get it for month and after month after month, they wind up cursing the day they ever decided to go to Cornell. Personal.
Have you ever wondered why the word from the Arab street is always so angry? It's because it's a bunch of guys standing in the street! Which is what guys do when they don't have girlfriends, when they're not allowed to even talk to a girl. Of course they want to commit suicide! Unlike this country where it's the married guys who want to kill themselves.
But here we always have hope. You can at least talk to a girl. And one might be crazy enough to go for you. Or you could get rich and buy one, like people do in Beverly Hills. But the connection between no sex and anger is real. It's why prizefighters stay celibate when they're in training, so that on fight night, they're pissed off and ready to kill.
It's why football players don't have sex after Wednesday. And conversely, it's why Bill Clinton never started a war.
And so, to paraphrase the sign in Mr. Clinton's old war room, "It's the pussy, stupid."
We need the Coalition of the Willing to be really willing! We need to mobilize two divisions of skanks - a regiment of ho's, and a brigade of girls who just can't say no. All under the command of Col. Ann Coulter. Who will be dressed in her "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS" uniform.
Forget the Peace Corps. We need a "Piece of Ass Corps"! Girls, there's a cure to terrorism, and you're sitting on it!
-Bill Maher 3/19/04
And finally, New Rule: If we really want to stop terrorism, we have to get Muslim men laid. Five British Muslims who were recently sent home from our prison at Guantanamo, charge that their American captors brought in prostitutes to taunt them, because most had never even seen a naked woman before.
And it made me wonder how many members of Al Qaeda have even dated a girl? We should hire women to infiltrate Al Qaeda cells and fuck them. Things would change quickly because young Muslim men don't really hate America. They're jealous of America. We have rap videos and the Hilton sisters and magazines with titles like Barely Legal. You know what's "barely legal" in Afghanistan? Everything!
Young men need sex, and if they don't get it for month and after month after month, they wind up cursing the day they ever decided to go to Cornell. Personal.
Have you ever wondered why the word from the Arab street is always so angry? It's because it's a bunch of guys standing in the street! Which is what guys do when they don't have girlfriends, when they're not allowed to even talk to a girl. Of course they want to commit suicide! Unlike this country where it's the married guys who want to kill themselves.
But here we always have hope. You can at least talk to a girl. And one might be crazy enough to go for you. Or you could get rich and buy one, like people do in Beverly Hills. But the connection between no sex and anger is real. It's why prizefighters stay celibate when they're in training, so that on fight night, they're pissed off and ready to kill.
It's why football players don't have sex after Wednesday. And conversely, it's why Bill Clinton never started a war.
And so, to paraphrase the sign in Mr. Clinton's old war room, "It's the pussy, stupid."
We need the Coalition of the Willing to be really willing! We need to mobilize two divisions of skanks - a regiment of ho's, and a brigade of girls who just can't say no. All under the command of Col. Ann Coulter. Who will be dressed in her "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS" uniform.
Forget the Peace Corps. We need a "Piece of Ass Corps"! Girls, there's a cure to terrorism, and you're sitting on it!
-Bill Maher 3/19/04
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Synergy...That's a most compelling word, one that I want this site to embody. I want the ideas of collaboration I have about this site to grow in whatever direction they choose. I'm not concerned with direction really, but I am more than a little curious as to where it will lead me, and hopefully you out there in cyberland that visit and contribute your own inspirations. I've got a really good feeling about things as of late...
The past few months have been relatively wild for me in regards to movement in my life and perspective, and I've been peddling as fast as possible to keep up, all the while trying to keep my mind open to possibility. It is AMAZING what and who shows up in one's life once you take a pro-active approach to growth on any level, especially when you make the effort with as little bias as possible. My dinner companions last night included my wife, a friend's father-in-law and my friend's two children. I scorched the hotdogs and semi-nailed the salmon, but it was in the end a good and just meal. What was remarkable, at least for me, was the conversation that entwined with the sharing of food & wine. The father-in-law, whose identity will remain secret so that the huddled masses don't beat a path to his door and rob him of his peace and tranquility, has a most amazing perspective of the way of things. I mostly sat and listened, but my mind just rips open whenever I'm around this guy. I've been living a life of boundary and limits for a good portion of my existence, but I'm realizing that 'limit' only exists when we create it, and isn't an actual function of natural law. Father-in-law is for me a muse of the highest order, and if you are reading this at some point, I don't mean to embarrass or scare you off. I'm simply acutely aware that you have shown up at a time in my life when I'm ripening quickly in my own curiosity and thoughts, and it's no accident. Thanks for sharing your world with me.
Okay, enough of that. What's on your minds out there me mi amigos and amigas? What's fueling your thoughts right now as you sit and read this? Are you happy, sad, melancholy, apathetic, enraged at some injustice, bored, fragmented, unaware, blissful...I hope you'll all choose to write at some point and express yourselves via this site. It's safe haven for all who show up, regardless of "where" along life's road you currently reside. We may have different addresses, but we all reside along the same road...Be kind, live large, smile...Newton
"Along the path of your search you may find a hill and kindle a bonfire that lights the great sky--though it's true, of course, that to make it burn you have to throw yourself in." -Galway Kinnel-
The past few months have been relatively wild for me in regards to movement in my life and perspective, and I've been peddling as fast as possible to keep up, all the while trying to keep my mind open to possibility. It is AMAZING what and who shows up in one's life once you take a pro-active approach to growth on any level, especially when you make the effort with as little bias as possible. My dinner companions last night included my wife, a friend's father-in-law and my friend's two children. I scorched the hotdogs and semi-nailed the salmon, but it was in the end a good and just meal. What was remarkable, at least for me, was the conversation that entwined with the sharing of food & wine. The father-in-law, whose identity will remain secret so that the huddled masses don't beat a path to his door and rob him of his peace and tranquility, has a most amazing perspective of the way of things. I mostly sat and listened, but my mind just rips open whenever I'm around this guy. I've been living a life of boundary and limits for a good portion of my existence, but I'm realizing that 'limit' only exists when we create it, and isn't an actual function of natural law. Father-in-law is for me a muse of the highest order, and if you are reading this at some point, I don't mean to embarrass or scare you off. I'm simply acutely aware that you have shown up at a time in my life when I'm ripening quickly in my own curiosity and thoughts, and it's no accident. Thanks for sharing your world with me.
Okay, enough of that. What's on your minds out there me mi amigos and amigas? What's fueling your thoughts right now as you sit and read this? Are you happy, sad, melancholy, apathetic, enraged at some injustice, bored, fragmented, unaware, blissful...I hope you'll all choose to write at some point and express yourselves via this site. It's safe haven for all who show up, regardless of "where" along life's road you currently reside. We may have different addresses, but we all reside along the same road...Be kind, live large, smile...Newton
"Along the path of your search you may find a hill and kindle a bonfire that lights the great sky--though it's true, of course, that to make it burn you have to throw yourself in." -Galway Kinnel-
Saturday, March 20, 2004
I hope this works. This computer stuff is kicking my ___. I had to create an entirely new blog, so I'll be adding some links within the next few days...be patient with me Monitor Dearest.
I've spent the first ninety minutes of my morning immersed in "deeper" blog territory, the realm of links and such. I follow the instructions precisely, trying my best to become a hard-core "blogger", but at present the secret handshake still eludes me. I've been trying to add Navylady's link to my page, but so far it hasn't shown up. Strangely, if I go to the URL area and type in my blog address directly the link shows up, however, if I go to blogger and log in, it doesn't. Any thoughts, comments or condemnations???
My new motto: "Jump, and the net appears". The universe provides when asked, but it also limits when asked. I think we can all look back at many of our own experiences and see the truth of this. I know I'm at my very best when I stop resisting and let the current of life carry me where it may, keeping my eyes, mind, and heart open along the way. Syncronicity is everywhere, kinda like that car commercial where the car is racing along through rugged terrain, a previously unconstructed road manifesting just before the car's wheels. Following one's intuitions is probably the most empowering thing an individual can do, but for most of us, it's also one of the most difficult endeavors. That said...try it, you'll like it!
A short story: There was a lake, somewhere high in the mountains, a deep crystal-blue lake that gripped the imagination of all who stumbled upon it. A school of fish called this lake their home, knowing nothing else but the bliss of clear, cold waters, and spent their days darting to and fro in perfect unison as each individual moved in synchronized fashion, the masses moving as a single organism, sunlight flashing silver from their sides. Harmony prevailed.
Suddenly, a clamor arose from near the center of the school, something hugely amiss making its presence known. A single fish, one just like all the others, was thrashing wildly about, slamming violently into its neighbors and causing the bliss and harmony of the near-past to evaporate like morning fog greeting a new day's sun. The other fish were shocked to the point of paralysis, their collective jaws dropping as one at the audacity of this individual. "How dare he" thought one, "What the...." thought another, "This S.O.B. has to pay".
Each fish, with their emotions calling them to action, began to close in on the fish causing the problem, their mentality one of retribution and justice. In their world, no individual had the right to mess with the overall well being and sanctity of the other fishes existence. And so, armed with righteous indignation, the fish commenced pushing and pulling at the offender to get him back in line, nipping at his fins, bruising and bloodying his small body. The highest order of all things was harmony, and that simply must be maintained at all costs.
The small fish at the center of all this looked wildly out at his brethren as his own life flashed before him, wondering why in his hour of need they had turned on him. Sadly, what the other fish didn't realize as it is often invisilble underwater, was that he was hooked on a fisherman's line and fighting for his very life!
None of us knows what "line" someone else may be hooked on. Try replacing your judgments of others with compassion and see what starts showing up in your life. You might be pleasantly surprised...Adios, live large, always!
I've spent the first ninety minutes of my morning immersed in "deeper" blog territory, the realm of links and such. I follow the instructions precisely, trying my best to become a hard-core "blogger", but at present the secret handshake still eludes me. I've been trying to add Navylady's link to my page, but so far it hasn't shown up. Strangely, if I go to the URL area and type in my blog address directly the link shows up, however, if I go to blogger and log in, it doesn't. Any thoughts, comments or condemnations???
My new motto: "Jump, and the net appears". The universe provides when asked, but it also limits when asked. I think we can all look back at many of our own experiences and see the truth of this. I know I'm at my very best when I stop resisting and let the current of life carry me where it may, keeping my eyes, mind, and heart open along the way. Syncronicity is everywhere, kinda like that car commercial where the car is racing along through rugged terrain, a previously unconstructed road manifesting just before the car's wheels. Following one's intuitions is probably the most empowering thing an individual can do, but for most of us, it's also one of the most difficult endeavors. That said...try it, you'll like it!
A short story: There was a lake, somewhere high in the mountains, a deep crystal-blue lake that gripped the imagination of all who stumbled upon it. A school of fish called this lake their home, knowing nothing else but the bliss of clear, cold waters, and spent their days darting to and fro in perfect unison as each individual moved in synchronized fashion, the masses moving as a single organism, sunlight flashing silver from their sides. Harmony prevailed.
Suddenly, a clamor arose from near the center of the school, something hugely amiss making its presence known. A single fish, one just like all the others, was thrashing wildly about, slamming violently into its neighbors and causing the bliss and harmony of the near-past to evaporate like morning fog greeting a new day's sun. The other fish were shocked to the point of paralysis, their collective jaws dropping as one at the audacity of this individual. "How dare he" thought one, "What the...." thought another, "This S.O.B. has to pay".
Each fish, with their emotions calling them to action, began to close in on the fish causing the problem, their mentality one of retribution and justice. In their world, no individual had the right to mess with the overall well being and sanctity of the other fishes existence. And so, armed with righteous indignation, the fish commenced pushing and pulling at the offender to get him back in line, nipping at his fins, bruising and bloodying his small body. The highest order of all things was harmony, and that simply must be maintained at all costs.
The small fish at the center of all this looked wildly out at his brethren as his own life flashed before him, wondering why in his hour of need they had turned on him. Sadly, what the other fish didn't realize as it is often invisilble underwater, was that he was hooked on a fisherman's line and fighting for his very life!
None of us knows what "line" someone else may be hooked on. Try replacing your judgments of others with compassion and see what starts showing up in your life. You might be pleasantly surprised...Adios, live large, always!
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