Saturday, October 29, 2005
FAITH
It's sometimes amazing how one week can be so comparatively different from another.
Last week I was still in a deep funk about the band having just evaporated and what the hell direction to go musically.
A deposit check to start a new, big, job was 2 weeks late, I wasnt getting my calls answered, and I didnt know if I should give up on even getting the job, if I should go start another smaller one, or God no please, if I should go and go find a "real job".
My dog smelled.
My shop was cold.
My head hurt.
Faith is a huge well to draw upon. I generally consider myself blessed and I truly give thanks for that blessing. Sometimes though, in the midst of things seemingly careening out of control, I tend to forget to REMEMBER that God's great universe is indeed smiling upon me. It's during these times in fact, that the benevolence of those blessings inexplicably begin to head south. When I'm fortunate to have enough self-awareness, I can soon tell that I am in the midst of these times because fear begins to overtake my mind and heart. Doubt and trepidation stand squarely before me, literally impeding any forward movement.
What I try very hard to do in moments like these is attempt to align myself with all of the universe, to feel myself as one, connected inextricably with every particle of energy within the vastness of being. The coordination/immersion of myself with that force enables me to FEEL and KNOW that I am, at this single moment, very much a part of the larger Power and subsequently that I'm one with that realm, the realm of faith - the Power of Life, the Power that controls birth/nature/creativity/love. By doing so, my faith becomes regenerated.
Conversely, the separation from that Knowing of faith, from that Confidence of love, tends to breed a sense of alone-ness and hence, fear.
Love (faith) or fear. It's my choice to determine - If I can just remember to remind my self to go there. And hey, it works for me.
This week, The drummer and I found, not only a new bass player much superior to our prior guy, but almost miraculously, a keyboard player too. Still a lot of work to do w/the band but a great start.
After having received a small initial deposit on the big job, I'm on my way to pick up the large deposit.
I actually received a phone call Thursday from a restaurant I used to play at regularly with whom I had become estranged to play last night.
My beautiful wife washed the dog.
I installed the heat in my shop.
My head is hummin.
Monday, October 24, 2005
PARTY ON MR. CLEAN?!
Well it's taken me many years to determine that there are 2 types of parties.
one is where people cant wait for the party to start so they can have fun, and
two is where people cant wait for the party to end so they can clean.
QUIZ TIME:
Now which one you think is going to be more fun?
Which would you prefer to attend?
If one's obsession about keeping everything clean equates with "entertainment" and is more important than the reveling aspects of it, how can a party ever even get off the ground?
I guess I'm old school. Party and Work are not under the same heading in my thesaurus.
In fact, they're mutually exclusive. The Work comes before the party in setting it up and after the party - and I mean AFTER the party. Not as in 'immediately after the party', but more akin to the 'next day after the party'. Even the following day is most forgivable if you're hangin' particularly nasty.
If you're more interested in thinking of what has to be done to clean up the mess than you are in making the mess, you're just dull. And I'm not psyched by affairs of that sort any more.
one is where people cant wait for the party to start so they can have fun, and
two is where people cant wait for the party to end so they can clean.
QUIZ TIME:
Now which one you think is going to be more fun?
Which would you prefer to attend?
If one's obsession about keeping everything clean equates with "entertainment" and is more important than the reveling aspects of it, how can a party ever even get off the ground?
I guess I'm old school. Party and Work are not under the same heading in my thesaurus.
In fact, they're mutually exclusive. The Work comes before the party in setting it up and after the party - and I mean AFTER the party. Not as in 'immediately after the party', but more akin to the 'next day after the party'. Even the following day is most forgivable if you're hangin' particularly nasty.
If you're more interested in thinking of what has to be done to clean up the mess than you are in making the mess, you're just dull. And I'm not psyched by affairs of that sort any more.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
LOVE?
If someone loves another and the other is devoid of that knowledge, does the love exist?
If someone loves another and the other has no interest in the someone, does that render the love less valuable?
If someone's love is construed as needy by another does that render the love worthless?
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
FRIENDS
My wife is my friend - has been for almost 30 years (altho we've only been married 4 years). In fact when she and her late husband Eddie, who was one of my best friends, temporarily broke up back in the 70's, she was strictly and automatically taboo. That's because my moral compass wouldnt let my needle point in her direction... I couldn't do anything to fuck over Eddie 'cause he was my friend and friends dont fuck over friends.
Likewise with Di now - now that she's my wife and FRIEND - I dont fuck over her.
So the basic sense here is this: when you have someone you truly care about, there's NO WAY that your mind or heart can allow you to intentionally hurt, deceive, or manipulate that person. That's what you do with people you dont give a shit about. The possibility that a painful truth could be found out, and that a true friend would be betrayed, especially someone whose feelings matter to you, is more than enough to curb that behavior.
That kind of crap just doesnt happen.
And anything short of that fails the definition of "friend".
Likewise with Di now - now that she's my wife and FRIEND - I dont fuck over her.
So the basic sense here is this: when you have someone you truly care about, there's NO WAY that your mind or heart can allow you to intentionally hurt, deceive, or manipulate that person. That's what you do with people you dont give a shit about. The possibility that a painful truth could be found out, and that a true friend would be betrayed, especially someone whose feelings matter to you, is more than enough to curb that behavior.
That kind of crap just doesnt happen.
And anything short of that fails the definition of "friend".
Thursday, October 06, 2005
IRAQI CATCH 22?
Geeee DubbleBubblya (G.W.Bush) stated in a new twist today that we cannot back out of Iraq because doing so would be handing over the country to terrorists. And that we must remain there until the very end.
A compelling argument for the true believers.
Chicago, 1982...Americans have their first taste of terrorism.
It occurs when a bottle of Tylenol is laced w/poison.
Of course the public was very much concerned with apprehending the guilty, but what made more of an impression on me was a report from the investigators. They determined that in Chicago alone, they knew of more than 17,000 suspects who were capable of perpetrating a crime of that nature.
Seventeen Thousand....
One city....
That many degenerates....
Now when I look at Iraq and the Jihadist attraction which the Iraqui conflict is surely creating throughout that region of the world, I see the number of radical, marginal, emotional, zealots exceeding, by far, the number of lunatics capable of the Chicago Tylenol incident. These maniacal malcontents are hustling to join in probably their one and only opportunity to be part of a literal battle to kill Americans.
Another equally disconcerting aspect of the terrorist insurgency in Iraq is the development of their weaponry and tactics. Invariably in any conflict, the evolution of warfare is given the opportunity to fine-tune its methods of killing the "enemy". Unfortunately, the insurgency is being given the opportunity to tone, tweak and improve its killing techniques on our fighting men. Even more unsettling is the fact that these improved strategies are eventually intended for the unarmed, unsuspecting, and unprepared American public.
When you take the vast number of the enthusiastic disciples yearning to learn the skills to murder Americans and add the present, successive development of weapons, it becomes clear that remaining in Iraq creates a definite recipe for expanding the strength of the insurgency as well as Al Quaida. More importantly, by sustaining the war in Iraq and allowing the growth of these elements, the president is in fact contributing to make America LESS safe.
Thus lies the Catch 22:
The longer we stay and fight in Iraq to prevent the development of terrorism, the more we create a larger, more efficient network of terrorists.
The critical responsibility in Iraq - more important than constitutions and voting and all the political BS, is the establishment of an Iraqi force to deal with its own people - thats what the Iraqi's want and it's the only thing that will cut the rising conflagration of anti-American sentiment/ militarism.
A U.S. free Iraq.
It is a bitter reminder of Bush's reprehensible history of the still woeful handling of the hurricane area that brings me little peace. I have grave doubts as to his policies and in fact even his capability of establishing the policies required to expedite an effective Iraqui Force. Only 3 1/4 years of deadly ineptitude to go.
A compelling argument for the true believers.
Chicago, 1982...Americans have their first taste of terrorism.
It occurs when a bottle of Tylenol is laced w/poison.
Of course the public was very much concerned with apprehending the guilty, but what made more of an impression on me was a report from the investigators. They determined that in Chicago alone, they knew of more than 17,000 suspects who were capable of perpetrating a crime of that nature.
Seventeen Thousand....
One city....
That many degenerates....
Now when I look at Iraq and the Jihadist attraction which the Iraqui conflict is surely creating throughout that region of the world, I see the number of radical, marginal, emotional, zealots exceeding, by far, the number of lunatics capable of the Chicago Tylenol incident. These maniacal malcontents are hustling to join in probably their one and only opportunity to be part of a literal battle to kill Americans.
Another equally disconcerting aspect of the terrorist insurgency in Iraq is the development of their weaponry and tactics. Invariably in any conflict, the evolution of warfare is given the opportunity to fine-tune its methods of killing the "enemy". Unfortunately, the insurgency is being given the opportunity to tone, tweak and improve its killing techniques on our fighting men. Even more unsettling is the fact that these improved strategies are eventually intended for the unarmed, unsuspecting, and unprepared American public.
When you take the vast number of the enthusiastic disciples yearning to learn the skills to murder Americans and add the present, successive development of weapons, it becomes clear that remaining in Iraq creates a definite recipe for expanding the strength of the insurgency as well as Al Quaida. More importantly, by sustaining the war in Iraq and allowing the growth of these elements, the president is in fact contributing to make America LESS safe.
Thus lies the Catch 22:
The longer we stay and fight in Iraq to prevent the development of terrorism, the more we create a larger, more efficient network of terrorists.
The critical responsibility in Iraq - more important than constitutions and voting and all the political BS, is the establishment of an Iraqi force to deal with its own people - thats what the Iraqi's want and it's the only thing that will cut the rising conflagration of anti-American sentiment/ militarism.
A U.S. free Iraq.
It is a bitter reminder of Bush's reprehensible history of the still woeful handling of the hurricane area that brings me little peace. I have grave doubts as to his policies and in fact even his capability of establishing the policies required to expedite an effective Iraqui Force. Only 3 1/4 years of deadly ineptitude to go.
WHIP IT, WHIP IT GOOD!
People have a habit of losing their civility when their habits are challenged. As basic necessities dwindle, the veneer of social graces tends to evaporate. Victor Frankl painted a deeply stark and riveting portrait of World War II concentration camp behavior when he described the deterioration of social conventions among intelligent, cultured people - those the Nazi killing machine was targeting. These descriptions are clinical because Frankl was a psychoanalyst, but heartfelt too because he was also a victim/prisoner.
My intent here isnt to quote at length from his book in order to support the concept that there were similar parallels in the breakdown of human behavior in New Orleans. My argument is that when a large number of people are deprived of the availability of water food and shelter, the eventual result is certainly going to be a deterioration of the general order which we take for granted during times of calm.
The job of the government is to intercede when that calm is broken but especially BEFORE the balance of order/chaos has tilted to the side of calamitous desolation.
To blame the people of New Orleans of disintegrating into a mobocracy when it was obviously the result of goverment's failure to respond, is comparable to accusing the back of brutalizing the whip.
My intent here isnt to quote at length from his book in order to support the concept that there were similar parallels in the breakdown of human behavior in New Orleans. My argument is that when a large number of people are deprived of the availability of water food and shelter, the eventual result is certainly going to be a deterioration of the general order which we take for granted during times of calm.
The job of the government is to intercede when that calm is broken but especially BEFORE the balance of order/chaos has tilted to the side of calamitous desolation.
To blame the people of New Orleans of disintegrating into a mobocracy when it was obviously the result of goverment's failure to respond, is comparable to accusing the back of brutalizing the whip.
