penultimatum

christmas has come and gone.
cynthia sick and gives it to me, as a gift.
the basementality takes hold and finishing up projects (floor, trim, clutter!) take priority. too miserable to go out.
spent the x day at lidia and butch's. champagne, home cooked food, a stinky cigar and a uber hot niece. same as it ever was. the weather is depressing. no party's this season. for no good reason. just saying so and letting go.
so now i set up the studio for moi. hook up the turntable. reconfigure the laptop, set up the speakers, crank open the rhodes. life moves in stereo.
time to poy up and book my utah flight. the plan now is to hang for a few days after the tenth with dennis and familia.
there is little activity at the flickr accounts, but still it's comforting to lurk every once in a while.
my head cold has traversed down into the chest and not even aromotheraputic steamers can halt the painful coughing. couldn't sleep at all last night. boo boo is up. she must have to pee. cynthia will arise soon. cancel plans with dee dee and crawl back under the covers until noon. welcome to the glass house.
best music of the year is "electric gypsyland" dub mashups of acoustic folkloria. that and a 4 dollar rough guide CD. praise jah. I will try and sneak a few more entries before returning to work in 4 more days. good riddance and fare the well 2006.
hemp rules

watts yo dosha?

survival of the season.
no scabbies allowed
heat and ice, an occassional smoke
mystery santa
unexpected, useless gifts
the miracle is in the giving, scroogie.
the signage is improved
the baton is passed
anew dictator - stir it up
a venture to the camp between holidays
they are makeing the rounds
clearing us out for the 13 days
trying to maintain balance.
putting deadlines on the fun
if you are late, you get zero, zilch, nada. no sympathy with apathy
overthinking is the enemy.
a new year and thoughts are more concise and clear. progress is a road not taken.
success too high a price to pay.

oh holy daze

the best laid plans often fail
the best party
of the season
happens in a barn
with no animals

plasma is charged gas
along with liquid, solid and gas, it rules the composition of the universes.
i need a cold drink and a hot bath
tomorrow never knows
relax, float downstream

best intentions

Why do we hurt? how do we reconcile the evil man bequeaths upon other men. men v. women.
single v. married. childless v. family values.
I begin the day in a fair mood. sleep was adequate. no sniffles or plugged noses.
breakfast is pleasant. talk is neutral. and then the opinions begin to flow.
the diametrically opposed motivations. the diverse perspectives. outside looking in. pain is personal. words are weopons. they cross vast distances with pinpoint accuracy, thanks to wireless technology. ouch.
may as well confess because today I sin, again.
fuck me.

dailiness

there must be a good reason to post every day.
i am trying to fit as much life as possible in the next few weeks
listening to news radio, a skipping record - a byrne / eno record so it's hard to tell -,
staying on top of the weather and waiting for lunch
having a breakdown occassionally results in a breakthru
I have emerged on the other side of the semester un scathed. un damaged, un challenged, un inspired, un conscious.
deja vu

almost cut my hair

4 & 20

country grrl

holiday feasting and fasting

the ritual has begun. enormous quantities of tasty calories heading towards our collective pie holes. followed and swallowed up by greed and good music. every day a ritual. every night another performance. socks roasting by an open fire. nipping jack and the captain on a cold mid winters night. anticipating global orgasim day....
proximity effect
cabin fever
getting on someones nerves
giving
giving up
giving in
giving out

implosion
got gun?
will travel
pay up of put up.
hiding from reminders of years gone by.
good bye
good
bye

i lost it. i broke it

ten years after the fact my anger returns.
why why why
the house fills up with unused objects.
why oh why
i pine to spend money on more instruments
oh why oh why
life revolves around me and i opt out
why now
happiness is a warm gun
how now
like a shriveled up cacoon
now now
beauty isn't even skin deepak
ow
sad when words can no longer convey and shouting hurts

reawakening the peace monster

I am now, offically, a bad son. a lousy husband. a warm weather friend. a slightly obese coworker. a long hair. a misfit. a drudge. four eyed forked tongue fascist.

found a record player in the catacombs. bought a USB record player. got together to jam at RKOs for the first time in two years.
otherwise I am cautious with the money.

the union votes tonight. what is the issue that we must all agree upon. that the college is fair in its bargaining? how about that we are more than union in name alone. a franchise of loosely aggregated talent with poor communication channels and sub par interpersonnal skills. peace, like a wheel, revolves. crushing souls beneath the sound insect screams. this is all i can say about that. the record player skips and i run to it like a ringing phone.

thanksgiving is back

the bridge has been rebuilt. tonight is the true test of it's holding power.
can traditions be cast aside and then renewed years later? let's hope.

three things matter. seamless technology. harmonious chatter. equal temperment / tempo.

the set list:

stravinski's Rite of Spring
Battle o Evermore
Punk Cheese
Groove bots
CU later
Gypsy ukulele

then hot tubbin and talkin of things that matter.

Iconic Flag weaving

My posting begins with a play on words. A vague reference to juxtapositioned emblems or fabrics implying a pattern based on two instances. A motif. a theme. 8 things in 8 weeks. from here to eternity.

what kind of mental preperation can prepare you for the shockingly difficult physical erffort required to enter, start, complete and recover from a marathon.
can you put it in words. pictures. animotion. a comples layers and weaving of the fabric of our lives from the endless source thread of pure essence.


break weekly projects into daily tasks. remember to do the monthly paperwork in a timely fashion. use the technology. cooperate with the system. background information scrolling through the pipe. tracing activities: location + keystrokes=navigational dimensions /by a word clocks @ global coordinates * time zone.

it begins with an image....

...and a smoke. the nerve cell. what excites the mind?
the words begin as sounds emerging from the ocean of silence. the cry of a gull circling overhead, in search of food and wisdom. fighting for sustenance. battling the winds of change. a walk along the beach in october along the gulf of mexico. the world is a dangerous place. when need a respite from the day to day stresses, the overcast season of depression happens amidst the holidays celebrating death, gratitude, and rebirth.

music at Ray's last Monday resulting in a recording of "gypsy ukulele." it takes a decidedly racous turn as technology frustrates the creative process. six takes and on rip later. then layering of melodies fraught with pathagorian scales in the key of a minor (no B or F). once a rough cut is produced, the ukulele will be added to the frail constitution of mind. tickling the nerve endings.

going on four weeks without contacting me madre. hockey has been fruitful, two goals and two assists in the last two weeks. The tigers made a pathetic showing in the world series after a miraculous year. clutch hitting and determined pitching by the cardinals assure them a victory at home in the fifth game. otherwise sports has become predictable and boring.

the homelife has returned to a semblance of normalacy. the nephew has moved into the flamingo trailer park to fulfill his destiny.

catching up on youtube, rocketboom and amanda unboomed. mark needs a flash animation of skipping stones. oaxaca is in turmoil. public unrest. government corruption and random killings touch us at home. the web is complex and neverending. voting next week. inservice this week. all is not well.

Slippin into the Future

The days are flying bye. daylight recedes. the moon waxes. harvest time. pumpkin breath.

New roommates. Lydia and pork chop joe. 5 hundred pounds of inconvenience. for six to ate weeks. living at the stronghold.

escaping for a week to sunny florida. celebrating?

busy at work. every other aspect of life suffers from poor or no planning. no hurry. no worry. now get busy!

new ride

I have a new look. clean cut. close cut.
I have new machines - speedy, amped, fly
I have new digs - same place, different layout
I have new responsibilities - ssdd.

I have been remiss at postage - demonstrating against increased stamp costs...busy @ work.

new projects - fresh challenges. just enough time
just in time. ooommmmmmm.

hockey last night. dusk dinner at the park with Ray and John. Mom in St Mary's. stop.

aftermath

survival of the fittest this weekend
the brothers (3 of 4) arrive with families in tow
entertaining the kids (10: aged 14 - 28) with
good food, non-stop conversation and an edgewise jamboree.
i now realize people operate at different velocities
if you want to participate you have to keep up
to get maximum satisfaction the majority should be
heading in the relatively same direction ALL at the SAME PACE.
otherwise tension ensues. tempers flare. drinking retards bicker
emotions stream down the faces of loved ones
but mostly you wonder how you belong to such a large, meandering, disfunctional family unit when all you are really after is a calm and considerate partner, who isn't too busy dying.
lunch with old friends later in the week
I could have been better prepared
had there been a better plan
go for it
happy birthday mum

the power of now

Sacrifice
Willing to Die
Coalesce as a Team
Take care with the everyday Things you Know
Move beyond the common good
seal the deal
Go
Do
Be

Become
Read - Realize
Write - Create
Intend - Produce
Focus - Capture

Tango

beauty stares at those who wink
i get dizzy
talent bows to those who think
i get dizzy
luck happens to those who plan
i just get drunk
happines eludes the man
who drinks
only to get busy

saturn is a blue green light
in the deep dark nighttime sky
luna is a homely moon
who sings of days gone by


make no mistake
there is a choice
and a time to choose
waiting for my day to come is such the fatal ruse

go quietly into the night
speak only good of others
each new day awakens to
the song of expectant mothers

Man plans, God Laffs

i have begun,
therefore,
i need a vacation.

shituation at home is soooo stressful.
inlaws / outlaws - they all want a piece of your peace. healing begins with quiet, rest, breath, stretch, massage.
not talk, talk, threaten, accuse, demand, query, absolve, dismay, confuse, predict, opine.
So I lapse into unreasonableness and blame the dog. I need to get out and move,
I instead plan the next move.
only 3 things are real:
1 living in the material world
2 dieing one day at a time
3 loving the ones you are with

time to post before some unscheduled maintenance cuts me down in mid sentence

Procrastination

It never ceases to amaze me. How I can get up, eat, shower, dress, go to work and fiddle about until the time comes to go home, and eat and undress and sleep. What is accomplished? What astounding revelation have I uncovered from the trove of information that is the internet. When do questions sidestep into rhetoric. How do linguists deal with poor grammer, loose syntax, absent punctuation.

Work stares back at me. I am alone in a crowd of underacheivers.

At least i reflect on my slow progress. every day I waste is lost. rescue me.

just a little spoonful of your lovin

I thought I had been kissed. But that was before I met you.

New ways to Waste Time

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have low extroversion. You are quiet and reserved in most social situations. A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you. You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people. Conscientiousness: You have medium conscientiousness. You're generally good at balancing work and play. When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done. But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it. Agreeableness: You have medium agreeableness. You're generally a friendly and trusting person. But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism. You get along well with others, as long as they play fair. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is high. In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas. You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits. A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

here forever always now

From the Same Womb

by Mishka Straka



We all came from the same womb.
We all slept in the same room.
We all face the same doom.
We all breathe in the same gloom.

There's a line between us that’s been drawn
Between a sunny day and the grey dawn
Some days I feel like a tree being sawn
I see you lying there but you're all ready gone.


Out to the winter and the crusty snow
Falling through the ice to the murky depths below
Grasping for life that’s been swirled away
Doubting that redemption is really on its way

We all come from the same womb
We all slept in the same room
You all face the same doom
We all breathe in the same gloom

Now the TV’s on but ain’t nobody viewing
We’re getting fucked without the screwing
When you get to the end and look back
Do you say to yourself what was I doing

There was so much distance between all of us
There's more to say but inside I feel vacuous
There's so many things I'm not comprehending
Why you fall and I'm the last brother standing

We all came from the same womb
We all slept in the same room
We all subscribe to the same doom
We all breathe in the same bloom.

Anyway it helped me feel better, even if it's more Nirvana than a Buddhist
lullabye, I had to dump that bucket from the inner well.

And as you may know, booze is one hell of a cesspool to climb out of. Now that I've seen first hand the grizzly results of alcoholism, I know that it’s true that it affects far more than the poor individuals who scramble their souls in the dark labyrinth where booze takes them.

KultureKampf

Mein Kampf = My Struggle

Just finished reading my life among the Deathworks by Philip Reif - the first of a supposed triology. I hoped he already wrote them as I discovered he passed away on 7/11/2006 at the age of 83. Mere days after I finished reading it. Its a sociological theory as an extension of Frued's psychoanalysis and Nietzsche's the Gay Science(wherein he declares "God is Dead").

It's rather thick reading, but the distillations are:
First world/Culture: paganism - rooted in fate
Second World/Culture: monotheism - rooted in faith
Third World/Culture: theraputic man - rooted in fiction

the concept of Deathworks: Art and literature that are the realization of man's chaotic and repressed nature - works that transgress the current culture in order to obtain freedom from the Vertical in Authority (the power structure) of the previous culture. It is the deconstruction of the sacred in a creative and self-fictive revelation of the Primacy of Possibilities (his terms) - the stability of the social order.

Or something like that. Like I said, "It's thick."

Also ripped through a first time novel: the Best people in the World - a coming of age story in the 1970's. Terry and Adam have recommended another: Somebody Moore (not Alan or Terry) which I will digest once I conclude the history of Dust. the small and invisible. Also listening to two books on tape. The first: The Great Raid (rescuing the lost souls from Corrigidor and Bataan - phillipines POW camp in WWII) and now the Theory of Consciousness a series of lectures by a John Searle.

Television: PBS - last of three part series on the elegant universe. From string theory to Membranes and 11 dimensions. How to study the invisible. when does theory become science. how to reconcile anomolies that refute the basic unifying principles. blackholes, dark matter, stellar quarks; sparkles, neuons, gravitons: quantum dust.

Saw a Scanner Darkly over the weekend. PKD short story about addiction and surveillence in the future. who is feeding whom. who stands to profit from the addiction. how to curtail advancing numbers of addicts. how to control, reprogram or passify the "sick" Truth Is stranger then Fiction

disaster comes in threes

battling a heat wave - boo boo succombs to a mysterious ailment with no discernable cause. fever of unknown origin. we think she ate something that disagreed with her tum tum.
suprising considering that she can devour organic and inorganic objects alike. so she has been through the vet gauntlet to the tune of $500.

fell off the ladder trying to get a birds nest out of the downspout. no injuries, but a tore down half the gutter breaking my fall. new gutters: $950.
no trauma to the back: priceless.

18th anniversay is porcelin. new teeth: $2500 - going broke: costly

but we press on with search for new diggs. pete's buddy has a house on teahen road in brighton that we check out thius weekend.

put new strings on the classical guitar. still haven't brought myself to plug in the keyboard??!

tour de france inspires me to put air in the tires of my bike. next step, to actually ride more than three blocks.

reunion is this weekend. Farmington founders fest and Ann Arbor art fairs this week.

listened to two new books and read three more.
the old ace in the hole - anne proulex
the great raid - rescuing the lost souls of bataan and corrigador (WWII POW camp in phillipines)

my life with the deathworks - non fiction

the best people in the world - fiction

francis crick - biography

documentaries: "searching for wrong eyed jesus" alt.country from the lousiana bayou and hill country of tennessee

mom back in time for birthday and reunion.

'nother year older...

And Deeper in Debt!

finally got some tags for boo boo. still need new gutters ($1000) and nice wrought iron fence ($3000) and then put the crib up for sale. meanwhile: teeth to get fixed today ($2000) - clean out the garage, reduce storage rental from 20 x 20 to 20 x 10, have a garage sale next week.

spent the 11th celebrating good times with my beautiful wife cynthia.

had a suprise visit from gary koivunen and karen from portland. hung with the K-clan and larry the G-man - played some quantum vollyball, told stories, drank cheap wine, smoked rope and cloves, ate cake and pie.

picked up some new books and old music from the library.

the world cup has come and gone.

wimbeldon 06 is history

tour de france 06 is in full swing

reunions (family this month) (30th high school in november) abound

mom turns 80 in august, dennis and family in town!

work is uncommonly low key and good.

talked with terry lauer this week - berkley front reunion this friday

need to lose a few pounds and shed some inhibitions.

paid vacations are an oxymoron

i am just a moron

heading into force of juli

World Cup fever is upon us til July 9th

I have been overly preoccupied with it. A form of escapism from the trauma of my last PDTRC class: Camtasia.

How can you come to know a program so intimately and yet be clueless as how to best indoctrinate novices into it's fathomable depths?

new computers are due this coming month. archiving as much media as possible before the Bundt come to take away the ailing Dells. It would be nice to recquisition this one for home based production.

Cynthia is nearly inflated to her max - each fill is a cause for two weeks discomfort. unable to breath deeply her body curls around the spine in a matrix of tension and trauma. early morning yoga coupled with late night massage allow her some respite. can't wait for the final operation in August.

this weekend hope to accomplish a number of home projects. tonight, though, i am not looking forward to a sales pitch from friends Nina and Jim? MacIntyre - about some health supplements and a pyramid scheme of distribution and sales.

things have been quiet on the McKinney Front. redoing the basement studio so I can record the gypsy swing tunes. latest is belleville rondezvous based on a single chord shape (Bm6)

gots to love those three finger django chords.

now if I could only over dub hendrix like drop Eb tuning blues rifs....


need to square up debts with Ray($25, Dick ($20 and Wendy( $10

just finished reading hendrix bio: roomful of mirrors. abject poverty as an incentive to rise up from the gutters of society.

read the fine print my brother!

a racial outcaste. the whole family was a tribe of recessive gene mutations.

germany has a history - but the can still be proud. powerhouse of futbol that they are.

world cup fever

30 days of unity,
justice,
freedom a game that unites the world

been really working on the gypsy ukulele tunes. about to begin recording...
procrastinating on everything else: HGTV chores, fence building, house hunting, on-line course development...

the list grows like weeds in the sun, mushrooms after a spring rain.

my energy fluxuates like humidity during the summer months.

bumping up against the american dream. selling up, swiping in, turning the other cheek.
seeking words like food, nourishing, sustaining.
life requires reflection - meditation = brain washing.

in the good sense.
predictions for final 4

germany, brazil, spain, italy

who will emerge as the victors.

(stanley cup has been excellent) go oilers (caines will bring home the cup)

ho(t)spice

Mishka and his lovely bride Amy, at their wedding in Mendacino CA circa 2004. He's on his way in next week with his mum to put his second brother to rest in the ground.

beautiful people.

while in town we will attempt a confluence of instruments and attitude to celebrate life and death and music and words.

been slipping between three musical personnae:

the suspicious minds, cheatin heart, wounded horse vein

gypsy ukulele django classics:

ida red, girl i left behind, minor swing, djangology, indeed i do, i can't give you anyting but love

salsa transformations:
ylang ylang, toma cinco?!, cumbia circulado

how far would you go for your brother? your wife? your mom? baka beyond and back

the foci is on guided instruction - how to make the meaningless relevant.
think of everything you do as learning a new language. the language of dreams

positive vibrations are sent your way

a lift from the aeropuerto is the least I can do.

Bate-coxa

they don't call this dance style bate-coxa (or thigh-banging) for nothing
we need more of this in the cold cold Norte. I love the idea of live music outdoors once a month on the Saturday nearest the full moon. Or in a barn...
two things to consider when planning the next extravaganza.
the full moon and a bard, that is.

travails of the worser half. trying to envelope myself in books and music to the exclusion of food and flowers - needs. but all is relative. how much is enough. how much not enough. perception, in this case, trumps reality.

all that previous brew ha ha about the 8 fold path and the 4 noble truths don't mean squat.

dreams and consciousness. peeshaw. what about outcomes and objectives? what about timeliness and time on task? brain based learning. how about ass based learning.

time to get busy

New Moon Semester's End

Black Hole Sun
The semester rolls to a stop next week. finals are due - last minute changes and pressures. outcomes planned for now realized. everybody needs. help.

the on-line professor. the voice of reason. a learned council. a devout listener. the dispatcher of sage advice and brilliant "plan b's". contingency is the last act of the defiance for those in dispair.

learning by doing. asking questions. using metaphor and simile. prompting more ideas and suggestions. opinions or facts. rules theroems and principles. laws of physics and man. logic. reason. perspective. wisdom.

1.begin with the end in mind.
2.put first things first.
3.sharpen the saw.

zen and the art of Cascading Style Sheets.

4 noble truths:

1.suffering is
2.desire is the root of suffering
3.only when we have broken the habits of illusion can we end our suffering
4.follow me:

remove the 15 defilements of the mind:

1.restraint of poisonous pleasures (senses)
2.use all there is to cultivate peace
3.tolerate all adversity
4.avoid the impure and spoilt
5.destroy the root
6.develop skills of peace

Use Words:

1.of Honesty
2.of Kindness
3.that are Nurturing
4.that are Worthy

Golden Rule: Do No harm

1.respect life
2.earn all that you have
3.control your desire

1.body
2.feelings
3.mind
4.spirit

(5 hinderances to Peace of mind)

1.sensual desire
2.ill-will
3.laziness
4.anxiety
5.doubt

right concentration is picking yourself up when you stumble and continuing onward.
right concentration is recognizing why, knowing when, learning how.
right concentration is continuing on the path without hesitation of doubt.
Right concentration is being here now.


now back to our regularly scheduled show.

concious dreaming and inner work consists of:

ignorance
awareness
practice
proof

Learning Flash - to create animations
Learning Dreamweaver - to funnel information through forms into databases and through formulas to create graphs and reports of tables and frames of data objects.
Using audio to enhance
Using Video to describe

1.reduce key frames
2.reuse instances
3.recycle learning objects

Brain Drain

reading "the three pound enigma" - issues of the brain, mind and consciousness. a reoccurring theme in my waking life. using just language (and some math) can we adequately describe the source of our sentience (sensation self awareness)?
There are those who profess an astonishing hypothosis: we are just our neurons behaving.
is the soul literal or metaphorical?

Also just read or am reading deepak chopra, wendell barry, thomas lynch. Essays on the miracle of life and the "...peace that passeth all understanding." hoping for inspiration of some new tact for dealing with Life in the Aftermath of Illness / Disease.
what is the cause of suffering? what is the true nature of the divine? our best and only tool is silence?

mostly finding alot of links (books) to other classic material on the inner workings.

but the disturbing trend is how it is effecting our relationship. There is a divide that is growing. i think that these ideas should help in developing stronger bonds but the signs all point to running away!

April Full Moon

Reading about death and dying. Dreams and intentions. Synchronicity and chaos. Life straining against the nocturnal desires.

what is mind. how are miracles explained. when does life end. in a moment. just like that. life as you knew it no longer applies.

participation required. reflection creates meaning. silent awareness is second attention. there but for the grace of dog go eye.

Bazooka. can this really be a word. a weopon no less. growing weary of grammer. how else do we interpret the meanings of words. in context. form is function.

poetry requires punctuation. prose demands it. losing myself in the dribble of early morning rain. fighting the first poison ivy attack of the season. clearing out the back yard. burning yard waste. nightly steamers. sleeping with the dog.

the year of magical thinking

listening to the book by joan didion. a year when everything changes. when does life and the pursuit of happiness intersect. and for how long. and then what.
profound is as profound does.
listening to deepak choopra talk about the seven stages of this the seven layers of that. obstacles, stages, passages, walking toward the ever shifting horizon of devine love. talking of Bliss and sacred moments. breathing and quieting the inner voice(s). yoga and meditation - plus learning to eat nonproblematically. "living on medication" revisted.
lots of loose talk lately between me and cynthia.
mortality. death pacts. foolish dreams and fucked up friends and neighbors. actually the people and location aren't the problem. the relationship between family and friends, friends and neighbors, family and neighbors. habits and habitual thinking. creativity and freedom. power and control. "...it doesn't take a jealous man to sing a jealous song..."
identifying boundaries and setting limits.
writing your name in the snow... doing cover tunes of the classics and posting to myspace once every three weeks. here to for vocal tracks:
hollowman (do a acoutic version)
cumbia circulado (re do with subtler vocals)
twisted sheets - remixes and dub versions
holly jolly hornpipe - this conceptual peice is worth revisiting. merging holiday tunes with ethnocentric polyrhythms - blue christmas, war is over, let it snow, etc.( 3/4 time signatures)
cheatin heart, ida red, girl i left behind, 16 tons, galway girrl, steve's last ramble, hesitating beauty, goggle eyed bee, we're all light, my brown guitar, down in new orleans, bonnie lies over the ocean. (to start)

the tyrannical mother syndrome.
have not talked with mom in over a month! life is full of activity and sleep. the unmanifest is busy becoming manifest (chores) are piling up. projects at work are not progressing. the obvious is becoming more so. skin rashes and athletes feet and neck spasms and headaches and joint aches and congestion during troubled sleep.
guilt and shame shaped behaviors.
couldn't find my little black tuner. no biggie. now i can't find my magicstomp! biggie smalls. the urge to splurge is predeeded by the need to bleed. liquidating assets and holdings. cleaning and polishing and trading and lifting and moving and storing. backyard maintenance and the threat of renewal, growth, reunion, hope is a cruel mistress.

Drive 55: arrive alive

Brian turns 55 on 4/3/06. busy with video project post production so lunch with Nick waits until today. The charge is to obscond with a 55 MPH sign and give to him as gift from OCCMC.
OCCFA elections are next Thursdays. George Keith retires this July. bubbles the chimp turns 35.
all kinds of movement with Dreamweaver, myspace, jeff on IM. television is a fading memory. finsihed up Deepak Chopra's How to Know God. I feel much better.
Intention. Sin. Ignorance. Bliss.
burning in the backyard that which will not blow away. Spring approaches. dance the day away.

Come and Gone

The Ides of March have come and gone
The march of Tides slow and strong
the face of love
is in your eye
the face of love
and then we die
some go sooner - others much later
most go eventually - a few stay forever
the dark knight returns
in full moon glory
the poet awakens and tells his story.

community
collaboration
coordination
cooperation
consternation
compromise
consensus
celebration

change the name to reflect the behavior - center v. studio v. lounge v. batcave
TLTC - TLTS - TLTL - TLTB

Video Blogging v Webinars v Conference Calls

We have begun to video tape instructors giving us their best "teaching moments."
Trying to encapsolate those "ah ha" moments that happen mysteriously after 45 minutes of droning from the front of the class. What connects to the student(s). Which aside turns on the light of realization? Which puzzle piece completes the jigsaw of knowledge?

Tonight music resumes after a short hiatus. Chris and Allison, second child well on the way, have sold Shaiwassee Chateau and moved to Ann Arbor. Will his new space be as well suited for crowded parties and acute jam sessions? Katherine has moved in with Sam and she is another year older (still a dozen years younger than the rest of us.)

Someone else grows older today. Next month is Brian's turn to celebrate the astronomical progression which speeds him towards the final hour. Only music is timeless.

Had lunch with Jon Booth last week. lent him some recording equipment so he could adequately document the sound of his eldest offspring, hersuit bass player in the reknowned Lansing bar band "Endless Aisle" an obscure reference to Winn-Dixie's on-line branch of retail product.

Went house shopping with Cynthia this pst weekend, checking into housing projects in the far northwest quadrant of Metro detroit (Howell, Milford.) this world is not my home.

Finally freed and tuned my stringed instruments from their dark, silent cases. 5 songs remain in my memory:
djangology, minor swing, grrl i left behind, ylang ylang (original), ypsi hornpipe
Playing around with Acid (the music editor)
Time to bring sounds into the mix.
Samples and loops.
Fr33d0m

Now Get Busy!

Back to work.

this entails writing, surfing, video shooting, lurking, searching, tagging, typing, listening, capturing moments, meeting with peers, establishing guidelines, planning events, assisting teachers, focusing on the present, mining data from the past, keeping abreat of RFID and other technological revolutions denying us our most sacred and arcane rights and privledges.

Life snowballs into a cataclysm of deadlines, coincidences, happenstance and opportunities.

thanks for the mammaries

C. has made it through the operation and is well on the way to recovery. Been once to the docs for a fill-up. occassionally she tries to overdo it. Boredom from not having enough hobbies. It's a fine line between recovery and rehabilitation. sounds like more physical therapy is in order.

... wherein she finds temptation and I discover loneliness...

The great vacation debate - to the mountains or to the ocean. The mountains are very comforting yet exhilerating. the ocean is very soothing yet rejuvinating.
Now back to the grind stone - avoiding phone calls - picking up dog poo - overeating -
hockey! jamming! steamers! all nighters!

downHill all the way

Just back from Lake Tahoe where the skiing just kept getting better and better.
Heavenly -
Sierra at Tahoe -
Squaw Valley -
Skiing a mountain is a totally different head from growing up in the midwest and Mt Brighton.
Managed to last 4 consecutive days without injury, although the insults were flying.
Humboldt Mishka shows up for some tele-mark safety lessons. Good Eats.

Back to help Cynthia through masectomy and recovery. milking the drain tubes, changing the dressing, cleaning the wound, fixing meals, picking up after the dog. Dealing with nagging phone calls. it's all just a little too much. Video blogs keeping me entertained and educated.

Work steps it up a notch. time to reenter the blogosphere. reading has kicked in again after finishing the Shep Nuland books on wisdom and dieing. Podcasts deliver the laughs. Ricky Stephen and Karl with a Kay. Dalai Lama. RocketBoom. Lunch with Brian.

snow crash
intelligence of dogs

rare earth v. life everywhere

reading opposing views of the same issue. are we alone as emotional, sentient beings in the universe? how rare is advanced life? when and where can life survive and flourish?

now i have to call and try and borrow money against my retirement to get myself out of debt. why? because management says so, that's why. Calling TIAA-CREF

Ainual Check-up

had me once over with Munaco today. pretty good overall, could lose a little weight and remain active to control borderline cholestrol. my face gets red just thinking about it!

getting geeked about skiing out west. Heavenly Valley LakeTahoe here we comes. Helmet CAM and MP3 players are the only outstanding gear...maybe some better pants. REI heres I come.

Downloaded the cloud box sampler from HNIA website. the Livonia Lad is way ahead of his crime.

New season of The Shield started last night. Welcome Forest Whittaker. dude has funny eyes. disarming and deceptive.

looking at new cats. the exotics ($800-$1200 each!) Egyptian Mau, Sphynx, Devon Rex. May have to settle for the Siamese twins.

last year in the St Francis Abode. begin looking at new digs in March, when the weather clears.
Meanwhile a dozen home projects to complete.

Cynthia's operation looms. Lord give me the strength.
I'm seriously thinking of getting her to sing for therapy.

boo boo split a nail and required sedation and vet care ($80) life goes on.

Joe and Janette came over for dinner and videos. forgot to take pictures. didn't get to show our magnificent visuals. maybe a repeat is in order.

got distracted and had to draft this post until now.