CompassionArt

I was another incarnation less evolved but so fragile and sought identity through the reflection of that mirror.  Tragically, my metamorphosis left behind shattered pieces of my history, expelled with the force of nuclear fission, echoing endelessly through the canyon walls of my hollow, empty newness.

Dear me.....

Please, may I never repeat these patterns of separation and sadness again.  Rather, in my freshly emptied vessel, let there be an abundance of the truth, devine reality, beloved bliss, strength in connection, and complete recollection of who I am meant to be. 

As it is within, so it is without.

And so it is.

    This evening as Dave and I were walking around the lake at Echo Park, I saw a man in a wheelchair along the banks with a fishing pole, a man standing next to him holding a turtle with a hook in its mouth.  As we passed the spectacle, I surmised the effort to remove the hook wasn't going so well.  The guy in the wheel chair was pulling the line attached to the hook as the other man pulled the turtle.  Because I often stick my nose in where it shouldn't be, I chose to stay out of it and continued walking, saying the equivalent of a prayer for the turtle, hoping the men were earnestly attempting to do right by the snagged creature. 
    After doing our stairs, Dave and I passed back by the man who'd caught the turtle on our return to the car.  I asked him if he was successful in removing the hook and he replied that he had been, so ~ Great!  I was so relieved.  Then I looked a few yards ahead and saw a turtle on the grass, all withdrawn in his shell.  I looked back at the man in the wheel chair, still believing he'd told the truth and said, "I'll just help him back into the lake".  So I picked up the turtle and saw there sticking out of its mouth, the hook.   It had been cut off by wire snips just above the 'U' curve which made it hard to grab.  I looked back at wheelchair guy who said, "I didn't have any needle nose pliers."  Whatever.
    Since I have needle nose pliers at home, I decided that I'd take him back to our loft, remove the hook, and return him to the lake the next morning.  After walking halfway back around the lake, I got a little more courage and decided to just try hooking a twig in the loop of the hook to pull the turtle's head out so I could then grab the hook with my fingers and twist it out.  I new it would hurt like hell, but it would have to be better than spending the night in a loft with a cat on top of the hook removal.  So that's what I did.  The hook wasn't too deeply embedded so with a little finesse,  a little twist,  the hook popped  out. 
    I placed the little guy back in the lake and reflected on how spiritually handicapped people must be to mistreat animals so.  I can have sympathy for a guy in a wheel chair, but not for the same guy who's responsible for an animal's injury and does nothing to help.  Well, I think I'm being harsh here.  Maybe the guy in the wheelchair tried, got frustrated, and didn't know what to do so just set the turtle down.  Whatever the case may be, I'm just glad I was able to make a difference.

    Roy is a great writer/blogger.  He is currently touring Europe with the ...... the George Micheal show.  (yes, George Micheal)  Just as logistics coordinator, not in the show.  I'm just sharing his last post with those of you who care to see it. 

Hey Everybody! 

 

Did you know that you can stop being considerate in a residential area because, as I was informed at 4:00 this morning by a young female neighbor of ours, and I quote; “This is downtown Los Angeles”?

 

Never mind the lilting sarcasm that information was delivered with.  That was just icing on the cake!  I mean, what a relief it is to now know that I don’t have to cramp my style anymore being encumbered with pesky manners and having to consider the fact that other people are sleeping at night.  Now I know that I am free to be just as loud and obnoxious as I feel like it at any hour of the day or night because……

 

“This is downtown Los Angeles.”

 

Wow!  Thanks neighbor!!

I could never drink more than one cup anyway.

That is to say, I'm wishing I could feel comfortable about sharing my project with the people on Buzznet, but think that greater exposure could be even more risky.  It's a sad, sick thing about our country today; voices of protest silenced out of a genuine, healthy sense of fear.

WE ARE AWASH IN FOLLY AND DROWNING IN PAPER....WHERE MORE AND MORE BUYS LESS AND LESS.  HOW WILL IT END?

At any rate, I'm saving dollars by wasting less coffee.

In spite of rather low expectations, the Blue Oyster Cult Dinner Concert was still an assault on the musical sensibilities.  (they played their 'new' stuff....???)

Our friends are quite entertaining and so that more than makes up for it all.

I spent much of the time shooting old hippies that came out of the woodwork for the show.  There were lots of characters but Dennis was the winner. 

Here's Dennis...    He lost his leg while passed out on a train track.  A 'Nam vet, substance abusor for thirtyfive years, newly sober for three, super sweet, cool dude.

Blue Oyster Cult 'dinner concert' at The Grove in Orange County.  (?)

How could we say no to that?  Well, easily.  It's too far from L.A. and our friends who invited us will definitely be tempting us into wickedness.  I'm getting a rather large tattoo on my back and some other 'stuff ' done tomorrow and  I don't want to be 'hazy' or hurting....  but, seriously.

So we said yes and I am bringing my camera.  The crowd alone out to be classic.

The last time I went to a 'classic rock' concert in Orange Co. was ...god, 15 years ago, for a Crosby, Stills, & Nash show.  The crowd hated me and my friend because we stood up and clapped at the end of each song.  (Orange Co. is more uptight than a rubber ducky's you know what), so we were 'boo'd' right out of our seats by the snooties behind us and into the isle where we danced to the music.  This cought the attention of the band and to make a long story short, we had back stage passes by the end of the show. 

I met Stephen Stills that night and wound up dating the man for about a year and a half or so after that. 

Pretty cool story, huh?  Very abridged, but still cool.

Hopefully, I will return tonight fairly sober, and with a good shot or two.

I must be just dillusional enough to beleive that I left a potentially dear friend in the shore waters of the Galopagos Islands. 

Our friendship was just blossoming when the dingy putted over to where I was snorkling in your neighborhood getting to know you and told me that we had to go back to the boat.

I really hope that someday we have another crack at connecting beyond just "hey,  hello!  who are you???", and; "Let's play!"....

Never, have I been so touched by wildlife as I was in that place.

You, who hitched a ride on my flipper and bit at the back of my knee, when I wasn't looking, are the one who ensnared my heart most of all. 

I'm a sucker for deep, spiritual, amazing love. 

Hey,  ~ they are there, in purity....waiting for you.

It's hot. 

The sky is Arizona turquoise dark blue and all the colors in the city are at full pitch.  Diving downtown  was spectacular this morning.

I took the day to vote and run errands with Dave.  Voting in this election took us to a place we'd never go otherwise.  Our polling place was at The Midnight Mission, a place that serves the needs of indigent, mentally ill, and homeless individuals.  As I waited in line to cast my ballot, a frail old man walked up behind me in line.  He smelled like a cat box that had not been cleaned in over a month.  I determined that he must be a tooth brusher because his collar was smeared with a large gobb of  toothpaste.  Our eyes met and I smiled at him. He then showed me his sample ballot and told me he was voting for a german.  It revealed a checkmark by Arnold Schwartenneger's name.  I seriously considered trying to convince him that voting for Arnold was not in his best interest, but the overwhelming stench that burned in my eyes and nostrils advised me to reconsider that inclination.  I opted for as much silence between us as possible, fanned my face with the sample ballot I had in my hand and tried not to faint from the fumes.  My turn finally came up so I was able to put a 'smell safe' distance between us and do my civic duty.  It all went very quickly from that point on and soon I was off to the next errand with the good feeling that I'd just earned myself the right to continue complaining about our government.  I do a lot of that.

 

 

Los Angeles; it's a garden of beautiful, amazing, talented, conscious, people. These people have taught me how to be more connected to spirit, to truth, and have supported me in my 'me'-ness, and encouraged me to continually blossom in ways that challenge, but satisfy. Here, I've had an opportunity to heal some nasty wounds inflicted by the angry, frightened children who had me. Here, I met the most amazing man in the whole wide world, fell in love, and started a new life with him. Here, I partied.....a lot.....too much, and I can see that on my face. (yikes!)

There are also those among us who look human, but are really perverted distortions of fear dominated consciousness all marching in unison to the pied piper of dellusions and denial. They are not concerned with what is happening to their country, or to their neighbors, and give no thought even to the horror that they themselves, or their children will face due to their complicitity in the crimes committed against them. I wish 'whitey' would come together and march in the streets to demand justice like the Mexican people who marched in LA against draconian immigration laws, but there's to much good TV to watch, or clubs to dance at, or kids to make lunch for......or whatever.

WE are so fragmented from each other, we can't even agree on what, or who the enemy is.

Very serious changes are taking place in America. Changes that are not getting any reasonable media attention, and unfortunately if I scream about it, then I'm the lunatic. Is it so wrong not to want an RFID chip inplanted in my body? They're in our phones now. In 2008 they'll be in our driver's licenses. Isn't the next step to implant them directly into our bodies?

And what about this new bill 'the decider' just signed into law???? He can now 'dissappear' anyone he 'decides' is an enemy combatant. This means, if you've been designated, that you will dissappear without any access to an attorney, without being given the right to even know whose accused you of what crime, and without being present at your own trial, (if there ever is a trial). Habeus Corpus es muerte. The best part is that it will be for the rest of your life, and torture is legal!!! Anyone who tries to help you will be deemed guilty by association and dissappeared as well. In response to this historical event that will destroy our country in such a way that will be very difficult to recover from, fifteen people demonstrated outside the whitehouse. They were arrested. What brave souls they were!!!!!

The outrage just isn't out of the closet here.

So Dave's quit his job of 15 years with UCLA, his last day is on Friday, and I'm closing my business. We simply cannot afford to live here without exchanging our lives for the enormous amount of money that's required to stay. We can't buy property here, when the gov't can now just come along and take it away from you if it would be good for Walmart to put a parking lot where your house is.(Yes, the Supreme Court just ruled in favor of Emminent Domain for corporate profit!) WTF!!!! Don't get me started on health care, education, infrastructure, the prison industrial complex, the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, privacy, homophobia, zenophobia, religion in the gov't - blah, blah, blah........ The American dream has been strangled to death, so we're looking elsewhere.

If I should dissappear, ...