I just returned from an amazing experience where I was used in the best way possible. I had been on a long afternoon walk and was on the return loop when I came to this pedestrian footbridge suspended over a creek and surrounded by big trees. It sounds attractive and would have been except for the grey pall on the energy. It was as if the area around this bridge were encased in a dark bubble. It stopped me as I near the center of the bridge and was taken back by feelings of wanton need, loneliness, secretiveness, and sickness. I immediately drew upon the energy that’s part of me and part of the Universe and sent it out in a spray all over the area. My palms became very warm and at times cold depending on where I directed them. However the strangest thing was yet to come. As the occasional walker or bike person would come along, I’d keep the energy going but let my palms hang over the bridge and shower the area under the bridge. Well, every time I did it, the bridge shook as if something were trying to get deeper undercover and away from the light I was sending out. I worked with the energy is such a way as I have not done since I left Florida. It was as if the area called out to me and drew me there and the energy was also called and it answered. I could feel pressure coming off the water, almost pushing against my hands and continuous waves of warmth and cold. I stayed with it until my hands cooled and the area seemed a little brighter.
The pictures were taken after I got home from my experience. It didn’t even enter my mind to take some pictures while I was there, so I had to go back. I got up the courage to ask my housemate, Heather, to drive me there so I could snap some shots.
May 28, 2009
8th Street Avenue Pedesterian Bridge
Coming onto the bridge the second time it still felt tired and sad but not as strongly as it had earlier. It also couldn't take any more energy. It wasn't called.
Tired and empty feeling area. This part of the creek is dry but not twenty feet away the ground is dank and fetid.
Walking away the area seemed somewhat renewed and nearly inviting. It seemed please with itself, a sort of contentment but not altogether healed either.
May 27, 2009
my manifestation my time my peace
my creation station my pad my room my space my environment my sanctuary my groove palace my sacred space my spare room my meditation room my reading room my spirit place my sleep chamber my dream bank my taste myoriginality
May 26, 2009
Exploits?
thicker and thicker and the view was
stealing round them like other things
existed in great profusion from dullness
in the wet in your white linen ignorance
is sometimes more remarkable
miscreant scorched black by the sun width
visible extract as if oozing from end to end
bidden to collect the factions of groping
bewilderment been caught in the accident
mumbled a temperature knot menace
belongs to the drawing room together under
an inadequate parasol simply slipped
into violets all blue and for a moment
rain and darkness came on neutral
like someone in a book story about lost luggage
The End
as if it were tangible they returned and made observations
at all events the reliable walls of youth looked
of elephantine interludes dancing
as if wild horses could not censure the attenuated bearing
it was the transitional passage in its dissolution malignity
panic and emptiness
dour gusts of splendor and demi-gods boil over a man
which could never be superceded and willfully caught
the poor cannot afford it
magnificence scattered the goblins of superhuman joy
took it as a sign breathing the autumnal statement persuading
to stop for Pomp and Circumstance
and a photograph frame more vigorously dashed
the same size eyes more anxious and hungary
and waste to steam flaming ramparts of the world
May 10, 2009
Carpinteria Valley Arts Council
Artists Studio Tour 2009
Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting a number of Carp area artists in their studios. I had the unique opportunity to see the spaces where these artists create their work. For some it was a room in their home and for others it was a separate building on their property. The last studio I visited belonged to Rebecca Lovejoy Stebbins and it was over her garage. She had created an amazing country cottage that seemed as though it was right out of the early 18th century. While Barbara Baker McIntyre's studio used to be the garage to her home. Hers is spacious and yet filled to capacity with works in progress. She and I concurred that no matter how large one's work space was, it would never be large enough. As much of the experience was in seeing art, it was also about discussing inspirations and the creative process. This was certainly the case with Kathleen Lord who also gave me the abbreviated history on Carp and its Chumash Indian ancestery but also the exciting work she does through the Bellas Artes organization. I was admittedly surprised not only by the quantity of working artists in the area but the quality of art as well. Much of the work I saw was just as interesting as anything I had seen in Chicago, New York and elsewhere. Carpinteria has been home to artists for many years due to its ideal climate, inspiring landscape, friendly people, and a very relaxed atmosphere. It's ideally situated between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara and downstate from San Francisco.
Figure study of organic form 1
When I saw this sculpture by Wendy Varnals, I told her it reminded me of a faery creature. A life dependent on and born from Mother Earth. Check out the work of Brian Froud or the stories by Charles de Lint for more on faery. Wendyvarnals@cox.net
May 4, 2009
Glamour Puss
Lindsey poses for my camera with the day's end shopping cart filled with trash. It's the perfect composition of sassy and trashy. Lindsey is so cool. Where does she get those outfits? Guess who does her hair? I'll never tell.
Cool People
I just met two very interesting people in a kind of unusual way. The first, Peter, I met online and we decided to meet in person at his place in Goleta. I've only been in that area once before and I mistakenly believed I could just as easily get there on the bus as I do everywhere else I want or need to go. Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks to the So Cal transit system is that it doesn't really run on schedule, the lines run at great intervals, and it stops running by eight in the evening. The fact that all the buses are hybrids makes up for some of the drawbacks but it doesn't make getting to places any easier. So, I ended up taking the bus to Santa Barbara but then grabbing a cab to Goleta. It was in the cab that I met this other interesting man named Able. When I got off the bus at the Transit Center, checked the time, and realized I'd never be on time to meet Peter, I decided to take a cab. I knew there would be some near the bus station and sure enough there were three on my side of Chapala and another across the street. What's interesting here is that I walked passed the three that were most accessible and chose to cross the street and see if the one there was available. Something about the three that were on my side of the street, they just seemed unreliable. Their cabs weren't clean and the drivers seemed as though they slept (lived) in their cars. So I crossed the street and got this other cab. Able and I begin talking immediately about how America has all these resources that other countries do not have but that it doesn't use those resources wisely. In other countries mass transit is much more utilized whereas cars are not as important. Able had recently returned from Amsterdam where his wife is working on a Ph.D. in microbiology (I think) and he was impressed by the number of people who ride bikes as their first transit choice. Cycling in the States is predominantly a sport. Granted there are people who do ride their bikes to work but by and large people drive if they have a car. He told me how when he came back through LAX that he had to take a coach bus back to Santa Barbara but he just missed one and the next one was not scheduled for another three hours. In many U.S. cities, public transport is so far down on the list of priorities that it doesn't even follow a convenient schedule for those who choose it use it. I'm generalizing, I know. I've lived in other cities that have much better city transit systems but why in the United States of America do we have any area that isn't able to assist all of its population in something as basic as local transportation. Speaking of transportation and thinking ahead, I asked Able if I could call on him when I was ready to leave Goleta and he gave me his card. At the time, I thought I would get a ride back to the bus station but that wasn't to be the case. I ended up spending so much time with Peter that I missed all the buses going back to Carpinteria. Peter is this sexy building contractor and world traveler. He and his ex go on these weekend adventures all over the world. They go to places like London, Paris, and Rome for the weekend. Also Peter lives in this amazing house he built. The house is wired up to a computer processor that controls many of the functions of the home including the lighting, the blinds, music, security, and more. He has this terrific koi pond under the stairs and a camera under the water so that he can project the fish onto his wide screen tv. Also, he rescues cats from shelters. He has about sixteen so far and he has gone to great lengths to make the felines feel at home. He has incorporated raised walkways, tunnels through the walls, and a even a special room for one of them. It was really a sight to see. Peter and I talked about so many things but more importantly we were able to connects as human being on a deeper level than maybe either of us had expected. I was surprised by the whole encounter. I had one idea going in and I came out of it feeling elated. I hope to be able to spend more time with him in the future. Thankfully Abel did come back and agreed to take me all the way home via the bank because I had exhausted my money just getting to Goleta. However, the whole evenings escapades were totally worth it just for meeting these two people.
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