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December 12, 2016 - Election 2016 Haiku
The aftermath stuns
and antipathy sets in
one day at a time…
for many.
February 21, 2016 - Some thoughts on the Subject of Education and this Election in the United States.
So, Another 100 years is going to go by and the members of this society (the people) will continue to vote to keep the status quo in place—the 12-year public education curriculum, instituted in 1892 by the Committee of Ten, this is the “committee” that established our current educational system in charge of educating the members of our burgeoning society (And just so you know, it was a committee of ten VERY white men some 124 years ago, which obviously is certainly not an appropriate sample of our current society these days). Having said that…
Time and many, many events will have all gone by… The Soars in Math and Science, the gazillion more good books to read in Literature, the more subjects to tackle with Technology, Engineering, the Ethics of it all and the mere more Global presence in our everyday lives has all increased exponentially, BUT we will keep free public education at a pitiful 12 years for everyone else who is an average member of society, where they can just sit back and learn all about Dick & Jane. In all honesty, everyone’s History class alone should be increasing just by virtue of time and space and all the events that have occurred since 1892. But no, everyone will continue to vote to keep the educating of our general public at a measly 12 years, stunting everyone’s intellectual growth (much like Zika virus as metaphor here) , which will inevitably erode what good foundation our previous 12 year curricula had successfully put in place in the beginning no doubt. BUT, again, Time & Space continues to move us forward, but we as a people will continue to keep those in poverty or those who live just barely above it (And look around, there are more and more of these enclaves popping up everywhere) in their 12 year cycle, as everyone else goes into debt because we all know how 12 years is just not enough to keep a society moving forward, not any more.
And then to the question of Cost, I’m sure the Committee of Ten had similar details to work out, and with no trillion dollar Federal Budget to consider (imagine that), however the ultimate Cost that should be considered here is what will happen to a current society that doesn’t allow for educational growth. One result will be an uninformed electorate, and as I see it…we are seeing the direct outcome now of our 12 year current public education curriculum. We have people who think it would be okay to have a megalomaniac as our President. Does the average person even know what the word Megalomania means? An extended Psychology 101 class would probably help solve that. We all know more and more things can go wrong if we continue to keep our society uninformed and uneducated. You will have rappers (who ARE role models in their communities whether you like or not) suddenly proclaim the world is flat again, you will have young women seduced to think their only active role in their communities is to have more and more babies (more uneducated babies), and you will also have a deteriorating infrastructure which will nonetheless fail at providing good, sustainable shelter for many members of our society (Flint). And they ARE our members, whether you like or not (rich people).
Again, I realize Cost is a deciding factor for many who believe revamping our current public educational system is an impossibility, but you must consider then the Cost at not revamping it…and for me, I just can’t sleep at night knowing there is so much more out there to learn or to teach. Another 100 years CAN’T go by and we keep things at 12 years of public education. Do the math. Or aren’t you smart enough? Seriously, we will end up killing each other out of mere impatience sprung up from such stupidity. You know that’s true.
Besides, why should some people who are becoming more and more privilege by the hour, be the only ones allowed to obtain some higher education? Imagine: What dreams could be had by the young Thug life juvenile who sits on his stoop steps and suddenly 2, 3, or 4, more years of education is now at his disposal? He just might not have to go shake down another dude or sell another dime, he can start thinking maybe I can be a plumber and learn how to fix my mama’s leaky kitchen sink? Or hell, maybe I can learn engineering so I can just build a new house for her? The dreams could be endless! Or how about the new immigrant who now sits afraid for her future, more education could mean some day she could go back and help the vulnerable country she left behind to help rebuild and bring back it to its glorious renaissance it once thrived under,--which globally, will be safer for us all in the end. Malala Yousafzai, the brave young lady who almost lost her life for the right to Education, has said that the only way out of poverty is Education. The only way out of War is Education. And I’ll add one more bit, the only way out of a deteriorating system is through Education. You can prioritize all you want with your other issues…Security, State, Economics, Justice, etc. But the only way to improve any of those is through Education. Education is the primary platform that sustains us all, without it..we are doomed. But if we expand it, let it flourish, We just might be able to create Intelligent Life here on Earth. Imagine that.
At any rate, Yes, I am upset Bernie lost Nevada. Yes, I am upset Morgan Freeman endorsed Hillary. But I am more upset that a lot of the American Electorate doesn’t seem to understand just how important Education really is, and that Education should be everyone’s number one priority…but then again, I seek a society that knows better. Now I wonder, should I be? #FeeltheBern #Bernie2016
February 8, 4714 - Year of the Monkey
Gong Xi Fa Cai!
 - Copy.jpg)
***
January 26, 2016- Mother Nature arrives as Snowzilla
So here in the mid-atlantic we had a pretty amazing weather event this past weekend, and I managed to have some real fun with it. I came across a really great satellite image of the storm, and to my surprise, I was able to apply some magic-eye to it to create some really cool images,
And the first image being of Mother Nature herself, appearing across the Eastern Americas in a blue-striped habit, with a red eye, sitting right on the bridge of a petite nose, looking down with a slight grin and perhaps, mildly amused at her own power...
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and then some other images as well like:
the big Lobster claw in a deep, blue sea
or a blue crab claw snipping away at the Blue Ridge mountains, leaving behind nothing but a snowy carnage (a friend had suggested)
with those spectacular Alberta clippers
a vagina—
perhaps a beautiful vagina, that’s on her period (that might be my next favorite)
or in the center, just a tiny, red tea rose
or the eye again, but with a ziggy stardust flare to it (RIP BOWIE)
but then back to Mother Nature again…
then maybe a little shark fin up there in Buffalo
a puppy dog with floppy ears, Grand Rapids to Flint (Flint…free healthcare forever)
The surf wave crashing through Nashville
Or the puma dashing out of New York
But of course, the petite nose from Elizabeth City to good old Cape Hatteras
And then the sweet smile to Myrtle Beach
A beauty mark in Raleigh?
To possibly a little white mouse in Birmingham (or is that just a memory)
A polar bear heading east from Chattanooga to Knoxville
the boar’s head in Bristol
to Boston where her habit starts
mother nature all over again, and then to the end. Amen.
ps. it really was a spectacular storm. indeed, bravo mother nature.
***
December 22, 2015- more magic-eye starewell art
walk like an Egyptian...
or be a baker, smelling a pie,
either way, that's magic eye.
***
October 29, 2015- Pyschic Poetry
Psychic Poetry
I turned the corner
and as I walked by the Sage tree
my eyes began to water and my clairvoyance cried out:
“Let their children be…let them have their children…
China! Please stop, they’ve got to stop…you are killing off your own bloodlines
you are destroying your very own culture…Please stop, this has got to stop!”
And then I got into work and turned on my computer,
“CHINA LIFTS ONE-CHILD POLICY.”
…I had just turned the corner
and walked by the pretty Sage tree.
***
October 9, 2015- If Om had its own Care Bear...
I think I drew this because I watch too much cable news. But it does make it all go away magically. Stare well.
pencil on paper
***
September 19, 2015 - Magic Eye Stairwell Art
When I was a little girl, we had this really cool wallpaper in our bathroom that on the surface, looked just like swirls and swathes of various blues, pinks, and whites strokes of color. But I recognized from early on, that if you looked at it long enough or stared well into it, you could make out neat shapes, figures, and forms if you just let your imagination take hold. It seemed like for hours I could sit on that toilet and just stare at the wallpaper, which makes me laugh fondly at myself now. I would have already done my #1 or #2, but would just still continue sitting on that toilet staring at that wallpaper. It was mostly shapes and figures associated with water since the dominating color was blue. There was the giant sea monster with his gigantic head and arms that seemed to always be lunging out at me. I wasn’t really scared of him since I knew he couldn’t get past that paper, and quite frankly, the way his arms lunged up and out always used to make me laugh and giggle even more, “no sorry Mr. Sea monster, but you can’t get out of that and get me. Ha-ha” Next, there was the floating giant clam. Again, most of the figures were associated with water since everything was mostly painted in blues, but there was this giant clam with his mouth half open that always seemed to be floating right along. He was a happy clam, too. I can’t remember if I could see a pearl in his open mouth, but I do recall looking for a pearl. The other image I used to see a lot was of a pretty sea angel. She had long hair and her body looked half made of the water, half made of us. She was delicate in the paper and I would gaze at her and think, “Please, be careful pretty sea angel because giant sea monster is right behind you!.” But then I would shift my eyes to Mr. Clam,.and for some reason, he always made me laugh and that would immediately take away the fear of the pretty sea angel getting eaten up by Mr. Sea Monster. I guess that’s where the term “happy as a clam” could have come from in my child mind. Mr. Clam always made me happy.
For years I have recognized that a lot of my own Art has had that same kind of multi-perceptive Rorschach edge/quality about it, and I know that this is something that most definitely started from my exposure to, for example that bathroom wallpaper, which remained in my childhood home for well over eighteen years. Another instance I am sure affected me as much was when I was in college I used to work at a small kiosk in two area malls that sold those Magic Eye posters. The Magic Eye craze really took hold in the early nineties and I had just graduated high school. I can’t remember how I fell into working at the kiosk. I vaguely remember meeting the merchant who was peddling them, but I do remember soon finding myself after classes, sitting at a kiosk at the mall trying to sell these posters. Personally, I loved the posters, thought they were the coolest thing ever. Seeing those 3D images came very easily for me and I used to laugh at the folks who would come by and just try and try and try in vain, but still just couldn’t see the image hiding in the various dots and splots. They would stand so frustrated and STARE SO HARD into the poster, “I CAN’T SEE IT. IT’S A LIE. THERE’S NOTHING THERE.” I heard it all. It was so amusing.
Incidentally—that 'Magic eye' of mine really hasn’t ever stopped. It’s in many of my paintings, drawings, and photographs. And though it’s often a source of amusement for myself, it happens that it’s also a source of struggle. The being Why. Why am I always doing that? The Why I like to think is often like that giant sea monster in the wall paper, always after me, taunting, making me feel fearful and so misunderstood. But then I think—who cares Why? It’s what I do and it’s what I do well, this I know. So then I’m happy as that clam again and I continue on.
Any way—there's my Artist’s Statement.
So in my stairwell of my apartment building, I have noticed that I have made a lot of the peeling & chipping away paint into that very childhood wallpaper, and I have had a lot of fun discovering the new figures & forms with the help of my own imagination. It’s the first of what will probably follow as a series of photographs I already have of the images I have found just by day in & day out walking by peeling paint. Sadly, my bathroom doesn’t have any cool wallpaper. Ha—
Magic eye stairwell art; No. #1
2 birds about to duke it out ninja style
a guy with a stache smoking a pipe
the Orion constellation or Summer Triangle
& my favorite: Two pillar candles staring at each other, with one clearly abashed at the other's exposure of his...wick ?
Ha-ha :) See, that is why that one is my favorite. I also have the tendency to do find the layers in my language & writing, too. Enjoy and Stare Well.
September 11, 2015 - Fun with drawing prompts
I bought a book on drawing prompts recently, and really—what fun has it been. The next subject to draw was Zombies, & honestly, what better place is there to take from then today's political climate. FOR REALZ
PS. the sky was EXACTLY the same pretty blue as it was 14 years ago today. Not a cloud in it. Just a beautiful, brilliant blue sky. Never forget.
xoxo.
August 09, 2015 - I like to think...
Sometimes I like to think the Universe hears me and understands my sadness, or disappoint over certain situations or things that happen in this world, i.e. Earth..and then it does its best to comfort or console me the best way it knows how. I mean, I fully realize that I could be assigning such meaning to certain random acts just to console myself, myself…but sometimes, like I said, I like to think the Universe does this autonomously from me.
The other night I went over to my parents’ house to pay them a visit. We had a nice dinner, a family friend was also over, and afterwards, we just sat around and talked and enjoyed our conversation. About half way through the evening, during a moment of quiet—or in reality, during a moment when we all just stared at the television for a second trying to understand how the Washington Nationals just lost a 4-run lead in the top of the 8th to the Colorado Rockies...was when I then glanced over & caught this sight that was just off to the side of me where I sat on the couch:
I am not going to lie…the sight almost brought me to tears right there. I thought to myself immediately, “Universe, are you trying to tell me that somewhere, beyond the other side, there is a very content Lion sitting majestically like so & under such a glorious like awning…is this true?” And then as I wondered that, a peacefulness and a reverie like no other settled upon me. Again, I know this is something I immensely like to think about the Universe…that something in this infinite span of space and time, something heard my pain—understood it, and took the time & space to carve out a little bit of something just for me to experience & take in just to comfort me—it’s just that intimate sometimes.
Incidentally, the Lion statue is from a family friend who is from Tanzania. My parents have had him for years and he’s been moved all around the house.. but on this Friday night, there he sat, just over my right shoulder—and becoming more and more than just a simple carved stone statue of a Lion, but an indication to me that the great beyond is even far greater than I had recently perceived…it’s a place of beauty, it’s a place of rest, and it’s a place where great spirits like Cecil can go and be remembered and rejoiced all into Eternity, but most importantly, it's a place that really cares.
You know, it is occurrences like so that make me want to really thank (and to some extent, praise) the Universe for hearing me…and to kind of bring this back full circle, as far as that scorecard goes that I interjected in my previous two blog posts: God 1, most certainly…Won this one.
July 30, 2015 - Beautiful Beast
It’s weird
But since about the end of summer 2013
and give or take each working weekday for 47 weeks of the past couple of years
I’ve been staring up at a photograph, a really beautifully taken photograph
of a great big, beautiful Lion that sits on the wall of my boss’s office
And along with several other saffar4i animals as well too—
a giraffe, rhino, lion cubs
But the Lion one, is always my go to image in my boss’s office
So I’ve seen the image of a Lion a lot the past two years—so naturally
As a result of the frequency, you kind of develop a relationship with it, or well maybe
Not everyone would—but I fall hard into this kind of stuff—I’d have to say I even made friends with the photo too, but seriously it’s hard not to when you see something so often.
He sits right up top of my boss’s little picture pyramid and
For periods I can sometimes sit at my boss’s keyboard for a while, helping her with documents or email— either sitting for hours or minutes, but either way there he is, that photograph of that big, beautiful Lion sitting there with his big nose to the air just hanging right above me
I can often have conversations with him too, I know that’s probably weird—but when
my boss is off in thought while she works & while I just have to sit there and wait for her dictation, there’s wait time for me to think too, so that’s when I will usually
will look up and see that big guy there and think “Awww, look at how happy he looks..just sitting there, big nose to air” I always think that; it’s a mantra to me almost, day in & out
My boss’s son did a real nice job of taking the photograph, too
It’s funny, often times my thoughts will drift off then to thoughts about actual safari—
While my boss is off in her thought, I can imagine my boss enjoying herself in the bumpy truck, despite her being physically blind to it all & just having the time of her life,,
I’m usually pretty happy for her—but then naturally, that would soon give way to the other types I can also imagine driving around in bumpy trucks around her,, the types that do it for sport and
then I often get grumpy which then leads to annoyance at my boss for keeping me in her office having to do these tasks while having these kinds of negative thoughts suddenly coming at me and I just want to get away…but you really can’t, so one just looks away, hopes the feelings shake gone, or thankfully my boss starts to dictate and I have to snap out of it and work and the picture returns back to just the big guy sitting there, pleasantly enjoying his big nose to the air
I suppose this is why this whole thing about Cecil the Lion is just so sad for me
His kind really took a big hit the other day
And in the most evil of ways too—the use of that bait
What an absolutely cowardly way to lure such a vulnerable creature to you
And all for just the hell of it really—that’s so ill to me, really it is, the absolutely illest of ills…
God, what another absolutely really shitty end to the day—
And I got to go back again tomorrow
And sit at my boss’s desk and think this thing all over again,
OY VEY
You win again
July 28, 2015 - Cecil the Lion
God, what a shit day
I even just had the number of the beast
appear as I walked right up to my elevator doors
suddenly 6 -6 -6 appears on three tiny little red screens
and now I feel like I’m in for a battle—
It started with hearing about the news of what happened to Cecil the Lion.
I wrote a poem about that today
I’ll post it below
But seriously what a crap day, if there is
God & Devil fighting it out
And God is all that is infinitely good
And Devil is all that is infinitely bad
Today was bad; the death of Cecil the Lion was bad
And the Devil won that battle today
most definitely
The Devil won today
And that’s all I can say
***
Genesis 1:26
(For Cecil)
I live in shame today
and it's the hardest thing
to ever come out of I think
(besides belief in a book)
I'm beginning to wonder though
if this is where I actually belong
amongst all this shame
I read about Cecil the Lion
and my heart feels literally physically sick
and I hate every inch of my body right now—
from my limbs
to my head
down to my feet
and everything in between
I hate my hair
I hate the atoms that make up my hair
I hate my fingernails &
the paint that covers them to make them look pretty
I hate my nose
my lips
my stupid lips that can't even speak words
they just quiver
I hate my eyes, they don't even know where to look right now
they are just filling with tears
tears that are streaking down
my stupid cheeks
my dumb stupid cheeks that hold my foolish teeth
foolish teeth that eat food
that nourish my pathetic organs
Fuck my liver
Fuck my kidneys
Fuck my lungs, I hate you
I wish I didn't carry myself
around on these idiotic legs
with these asinine feet
that stink & obliterate worlds beneath them
That Cecil
He was probably a good Lion
a beautiful golden Lion, one of his kind
who loved to roam the vast grasslands
with his majestic pride that followed
God, I even fucking hate my kneecaps
right now
and my bones and my marrow beneath my bones
my blood, my veins, my arteries
Go to hell finger tips
Go to hell thighs
ears
elbows, you pieces of shit
I want to yank out every living hair that grows
on my body and tell it to piss off
Oh, and just fry skin cells, please just fry
Cecil. My Cecil ceases...
And though I know he wasn't the first Lion
and probably certainly not the last
I still live in shame today
and for that—
my vagina
I just want it to apologize.
***
June 11, 2015 - Inspiration
Ornette Coleman dies
into work this morning
Up the escalator standing, I hear
the usual busker already there
him wailing away at his little Casio
pounding away as well with some
gospel bluesy tune, Again as usual
except this time
when I got to the top and began my usual pass-by
I noticed two new, shiney-gold saxophones
One small, one big—I was so impressed
by the larger one—play THAT will yah mr man.
Then I get to work, and hear that Ornette Coleman dies.
Gotcha.
I really couldn’t tell you who
this man was personally
but Im guessing I need to listen to the sax now
because lately
I’ve really been enjoy hearing the sax again
In the old mad max movies that have been actually
re-circulating recently because of the new2015 release
first in Max 79, then of course in Thunderdome
That sax, so serendipitous sounding
if serendipity ever had a sound,
really
--June 11, 2015
Ps sorry, I'd say more, but time for pizza
May 22, 2015 - TTG - Fly Friday - Happy Mental Health Month
May is Mental Health month, and I’ve been doing this fun little thing on my facebook called Fly Fridays—that now I think I’d also like to get it started on here too, so for TTG’s first Fly Friday, I dedicate this inaugural day to the 31 days I spent in the psych ward in a hospital in Jamaica, Queens way back in the early 2000's. You know, sometimes shit happens. Life gets to be WAY too much & you just need a break from whatever routine you’ve got yourself caught up in at the time. Very Girl interrupted style ya know. (Side bar—I loved that movie. One of my favs for sure) So yah, any way, the 31 days & Ja Rule ruled the airways of radio at the time with his hit, Always on Time done with Ashanti. So sure enuff, it be at every mid afternoon med call--always the same time, always the same place, every day all day that--never fail, they'd call for meds..and Shaquia, one of the hospitals longer mainstay patients, would immediately begin in tow singing out the refrain to Rule's Always on time as we all lined up to the window to get our daily dose of meds. There they’d call and there'd she’d be, right there on it.." YYou Always on time...I give you mah alll...baby be mine, you always on time"... Yes, every single time. She’d start singing this right up to the window, happily receive her meds, and then dance away merrily. Such merry madness to it all that truly it wasn't the actually ingestion of meds that was the best remedy for me during my stay there I will tell you.
But yah So any way--For this PSA—Just want to say: Dont be afraid to reach out or intervene on the behalf of someone who u may see needing that same kind of time out or break. The help is really there if you need it. But regardless of all that, let’s still just not kid ourselves because we all know--who u fucking meet in places like this is really well worth all the mental breakdown.
Xoxo.
“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.” --Charles Bukowski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tcDXJfAFVw
***
April 30. 2015 - National Poetry Month
So just making it before the month is up, here's a photo of the only poem I've ever gotten published...pretty fly, huh? Ha--Happy Poetry Month.
JM = John Milton, because context is very important here.
xoxo.
February 19, 4713 - Year of the Goat
So my advice to everyone this year is to just don't let anyone get yours . Ha. Gong Xi Fa Cai!! Happy New Year!!
notecards & sharpies
xoxo.
December 03, 2014 - Something new (still playing around)
I had said to some friends that only one more thing needed to happen to me before I made a sign & hung it out the window to start charging for readings..nevermind what happened..but here it is: my sign
im still playing around a little bit with its inception and not quite done yet with this, but so far it's looking pretty good. As far as charging how much, that's still tbd
Enjoy.
xoxo.
November 22, 2014 - We come in Peace.
Air Plants are amazing. Their ability to subsist on barely anything but a little bit of water & air, yet able to remain so beautiful & productive is truly celestial if you as me. Enjoy.
Ps. It just occurred to me what this looks like, besides being kinda spacey. It reminds me of the Dr. Seuss character the Lorax! I've been wondering what it was the past 24 hrs. I knew it looked like something I knew and a cartoon character, but I couldnt quite place it until now. The Lorax!! Awwww
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not."
xoxo.
October 24, 2014- The Summer was Great.
And it kinda swept me away for a while. BUT NOW IT'S ALMOST HALLOWEEN!!! MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE SEASON! I mean, Christmas is great and all too...But Halloween means Fall, which means Harvest, which means Pumpkins, and Crispy leaves, and Golden like sun. Ever notice that the sun always looks a little more golden during this time of year too? Probably has to do with the sun dropping lower in the sky. Any how, it's all golden & Orangee. I love the color orange too. And love oranges the fruit as well. But don't get me wrong, as a fashion, I look like shit in orange & hate it for me. BUT the rest of the world looks just awesome in it and I love that. OHH, and the moon is lovelier too around this time of year. Harvest moon. So YES, im really happy it's Halloween and Fall season, and to celebrate, Im going to post my most favorite poem I've ever written for this time. And so far in my life, and most likely, will be my favorite for the rest of my life too. Enjoy!
He was such a good Cat. xoxo.
***
June 12, 2014 - More fun with Nailien Graffiato
XOXO
June 06, 2014 - New art, new medium, & ... crop circles
Nail Polish (on a desk)
Nail Polish (on a canvas)
XXOO
May 28, 2014 -
May 28, 2014
***
I can’t believe it
she’s gone
late last night
as I folded a blouse I said to myself,
“I know why the caged bird sings…”
then I laughed, “I can’t sing though...but I can dance.”
Yes—I can dance
so now, I must dance in her spirit, that Great Spirit
I must dance to the glory of that phenomenal woman
I must dance to the greatness of her ascension
she is up high, so high above the cage now
soaring through time & space, giggling with stars
napping with supernovas, sipping at the Milky Way
She is free now, our songbird so free
her cage no more
my cage evermore
I folded a blouse late last night and said to myself,
“I know why the caged bird sings”
and now I know why it also dances
xxoo
Ps. I really did randomly say that to myself last night.
(Sigh) RIP Maya Angelou
April 29, 2014 - I met a woodpecker yesterday.
so in honor of National poetry month, I’ve gone flipping through an old collection of poetry by Edna St. Vincent Millay. my dad bought the collection for me about 12 years ago, and I haven’t paid much attention to it until today; so though I am not too familiar with Millay’s poetry, I am—however, finding myself very drawn to the simplicity of her writing, that is, her density of thought need not really rely on how decorative her language can be and could be, but is instead revealed by her mention of the little subtleties in life that really and truly, make the most impact on it sometimes, “the chamber door, the scarlet shaft, the purple berry Betrothal” Any way, I chose this one, the ‘Song of A Second April’ because well it’s April—and national poetry month, and also because just yesterday I discovered a little grey woodpecker, with quite the burst of fire engine red on his little featherhead, living in a dead tree top in the back of my apt building. he is so cute. so now fate would have it that I would find myself reading ‘Song of A Second April just a little while ago, and to now sharing it with you—it’s so nice
Ps it helps to know that hepaticas (which I've also since discovered lives in around back too) & mullein
are types of Flora ..
xxoo
***
Song Of A Second April
April this year, not otherwise
Than April of a year ago,
Is full of whispers, full of sighs,
Of dazzling mud and dingy snow;
Hepaticas that pleased you so
Are here again, and butterflies.
There rings a hammering all day,
And shingles lie about the doors;
In orchards near and far away
The grey wood-pecker taps and bores;
The men are merry at their chores,
And children earnest at their play.
The larger streams run still and deep,
Noisy and swift the small brooks run
Among the mullein stalks the sheep
Go up the hillside in the sun,
Pensively,—only you are gone,
You that alone I cared to keep.
—Edna St. Vincent Milley (1892-1950)
***
April 2, 2014 - Little Love Note to DC
So I’ve been dittle daddling with some graffiti art lately. It’s been fun—still is fun, and will probably do a little more—but for now, I came up with this:
kind of my little love note to a great city I think, and to also, a very great capital of a very great country
anyhow, it was fun. enjoy
ps. doesn't the little heart look like it's dancing? so cute
xoxo.
March 17, 2014 - slàinte
Still one of my favorites..Happy St. Patrick's Day.
There once was a saint named Patrick,
T’was lucky to be Ireland’s good maverick,
For through his blessed talk,
Of the great shamrock,
He showed the Trinity's holy magic.
xoxo.
January 31, 4712 - Happy Lunar New Year
Year of the Wood Horse
4x5 notecards/sharpies
xoxo.
January 20, 2014 - Under Maintenance
So this past weekend TTG has been under some much needed maintenance. It’s amazing how in just a few years, one can look back at what one wrote, said, or did and be like WHAT. THE. HELL. So a revamp was very much in order. But don’t fret—I’m not getting rid of any of the good stuff. Just reworking. I’ve come to realize that it actually took me about 2 to 3 years to finally hit my stride in what I wanted this website to be about; and this I’m really pleased about. So okay—let me go finish up so I can get 2014 started—it’s going to be a great year.
xoxo.
January 06, 2014 - Let's start the new year off with Poetry
Zzzzzzz
I haven’t written a poem in a while
And this bothers me
So that’s why im here
Trying to
It’s not working
Words are being too fickle
Thoughts too drab
Sentences are very boring
So I’d rather take a nap
xoxo.
***
December 31, 2013 - Last Post
2013...the end.
xoxo.
Ps. see you next year!
November 1, 2013 - Happy Dia De Los Muertos
xoxo.
October 15, 2013 - Got Gourds? (But No Government)
fall and furlough equals me having way too much fun with these awesum little gifts from god or nature or whatevah u wanna call it...they're just so fascinating to me, their designs all so different yet still kinda sharing the same set of characteristcs--and of course, what a tactileon wet dream! but I do gotta say though, I have the most fun holding that one right there
xoxo.
September 19, 2013 - Happy mOOn Festival everyone!
I even saw a little bunny hopping aroundthe backyard tonight!
***
~Lady and the Jade Rabbit~
On the moon tonight
her hope shines as he works hard
on her way back home
Will he ever make
that sweet elixir that sends
rlher back to love's arms?
She looks to the hare
his work seems steady and straight
but there she still waits
Up high in the sky
eternally far from him
that love of her life
And hare knows this true
as he pounds and pounds away
as she sits waiting
But for lone hare too
she remains the only love
he ever knew, so
Is then hare honest
with his mortar and pestle
does he mix it right?
Or does this hare trick
to keep his lovely lady
forever so near?
You can be the judge
but see now in this moonlight
two great loves so very bright.
xoxo.
PS, And Next year, I promise, it's a picture of my ass!
August 14, 2013- The American Sweet Gum
This only makes sense if you know that recently I’ve taken up tree identification as a hobby—
so what I got here is
liquidambar styraciflua,
or rather the fruit that falls from the liquidambar styraciflua, or
american sweet gum
I cant even begin to tell you how much did these things plague me in my childhood
(and anyone who might have a few illusions of what it was like growing up south: like running around through wheat fields barefoot, all golden and shit.. well I’m just here to tell u that just ain’t true)
And
I really don’t remember when my first encounter was
but I know that once an encounter period
I never walked barefoot freely again—not unless I already knew, of course,
that there wasn’t a sweet gum around
man,
get one of these stuck up into your tender youthful soles
and damn, never again do you not consider what’s on the ground—
and I really believe that if there is a God, and this God did have a son
named Jesus Christ—then this here is evidence of God getting together with Nature
and coming up with a plan; let’s just call it a little payback for that crown of thorns
“liquidambar styraciflua—
you will torture the soles of men!”
and voila, this little prickly ball of pain, compacted in just one easy drop
off of a limb—to rot in wait for a laden sole to appear
how perfect
and how amazing
real reverence can truly come about in the damnedest of ways
so watch your soles
least you forget
xoxo.
July 30, 2013 - Introducing TTG's New Cover Girl
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June 27, 2013 - Doma Down
In light of recent events, this is a good time to remember the tattoo I have on my right (inner) forearm of the man and woman in the embrace.
I still remember seeing Michael and Xois just lying there, watching TV and being completely tangled up in each other. It was so sweet.
There still isn’t any doubt in my mind: those two men loved each other very much, and I like I said the other day in a fb status I posted right after I heard about the ruling: I believe that when you are in the presence of Love, ANY kind of Love, then you should sincerely pay attention to it…because really, if you don’t-then it; like anything else; will suddenly lose interest and die out; like anything that exists, both tangible and intangible--
But besides all that, don't we pay FAR too much attention to everything else that is the exact opposite; when instead I think we could be just mediating on what has been given to us both so freely and peacefully like Love often is,
and again though I may have changed my sketch to that of a man and a woman because I am a heterosexual woman by nature..I still wont ever forget though both in mind and body, how it was those two men who showed me once again how love is and really can be, even for them and even for me.
xoxo.
June 13, 2013 - The Colorful One
I was just thinking about One, my kitty that passed away a couple of years ago, when I just went thru digging up some old photos of him and found this:
the colorful one
xoxo.
May 29, 2013 - #poetry
How a conversation ended, right as the elevator doors opened
"And they can live asshole ever after."
xoxo.
April 23, 2013 - Standards: Stilettos or Bed Socks?
(You know I have been crying about not having gotten something meaningful up on here lately,)
So I stayed home today mainly because I knew our super was coming through to inspect and change the filter in the apartment vents. This would all mean I would have to lock Kizzy up in the bathroom all day, I just didn’t have the heart to do that
So instead I decided I’d fill this day with errands, catching up on correspondence, laundry, and hopefully some writing
I was just finishing up an email when something on the TV caught my attention. I had the Today show on, the late morning edition with that hack Kathy Lee Gifford on it. It was just on in the background…I wasn’t paying any attention, Until when suddenly I found myself hearing
2 very annoying women yapping on there about how to create self esteem & confidence in the work place; they were just babbling and it was getting on my nerves. I looked up and then back to what I was doing on the computer
Then tuning in with an ear, I heard what one women said when asked what should a woman do when she's going into a meeting w/ her boss to ensure she will be taken seriously
Immediately the blonde woman responded: "First of all, wear Stilettos, and get serious................”
I recall wincing when I heard her..did she just say…wait…did I hear that right????
I then stopped what I was doing, grabbed the remote control and hit rewind..luckily I’ve got a dvr and was able to check myself before going into a crazy tirade I knew I was about to leap into: Yep, I heard right..she said it. My hands immediately broke out into a sweat
At that point my super was walking over and then knelt down next to me to change the filter in the vent where I also sat near at my computer
Immediately he was forced to share in my utter astonishment
Did you just hear what she said…she said…!
I started to fumble for the remote again, I made my super sit through it and listen with me. All he could do was respond with nervous laughter. I don’t think he realized how serious I was about my astonishment…but he at least humored me with his presence in the room, chuckling as we both witnessed this incredible display of garbage
Naturally the whole experience made me draw upon the true ‘cat scratch hood rat’ that I really am sometimes and react as badly as I could on Facebook, just screaming about being in my bed socks and ready to knock a bitch out over this…really ridiculous, I know, But seriously it was something I felt like doing at the moment
How are you going to advise millions of women, young and old, that who may be lacking in self esteem or confidence to put on a pair of stilettos……………………………………
A PAIR OF STILETTOS. And these women were introduced as LIFE COACHES.
You know I really could knock a bitch out for saying that right now And YES I am in my damn bed socks
· · · – – – · · ·
And you know, really, need I remind myself and other folks the history with women’s feet?
· · · – – – · · ·
OK – I’m done
xoxo.
April 16, 2013 -
I just saw the news report of the mother talking about her suddenly lost daughter
and I'm just so sad for Boston right now
xoxo.
March 14, 2013 - Happy PI Day
Last June I posted a story about my 6th grade math teacher Mr. Locke. With today being Pi day, I obviously feel compelled to share this post again. Enjoy and Happy Pi Day!
***
I had a dream about my 6th grade math teacher the other night. It’s been awhile since I thought about him. The last I did was probably about a year and a half ago when a bunch of us on Facebook found out that he had died.
It’s a little odd that I’d be having a random dream about him I think…having not thought about him at all…then suddenly a dream, and now here I am, struggling to understand the significance of it, yet deep down inside already knowing just how really significant it is…to me at least. Dreams are funny like that I think.
Mr. Locke was known as the “cool” teacher in our elementary school. I had him for both homeroom and math class. I really loved his class. We kids got away with a lot, but Mr. Locke was always cool about it; hence why he was always considered so. But don’t get Mr. Locke wrong, he wasn’t a pushover at all and often times when he did get upset with us, his entire face would flush so red SO quickly that often at just the sight of that, us kids would immediately cower away in fear. But for the most part, Mr. Locke always remained calm and cool and FUN.
There are so many things to just recall about Mr. Locke: his little green rag top Karmann Ghia car; the plaque on his desk that read “Bald is Beautiful”; but I think what was the most fun about Mr. Locke was the nicknames he would give to just about every kid he ever taught. I don’t know how in the world he came up with all of them. But a good example is how my sister got hers, which also goes to show just how dedicated he was to this because my sister had Mr. Lock 4 years even after me.
So the story goes, my sister had dropped a pencil beside her desk, and as she bent over to reach and pick it up, all of the sudden her desk tipped over and the edge of her desktop descended right down onto her poor little fingers. OUCH! I remember her fingers were taped together for weeks after that. Poor little girl. However, this whole event is how my sister then became known as “Fingers” for the rest of the school year. It was so funny.
Now in this dream I had, Mr. Locke looked just as I remembered him. The bald, tight-lipped, flustery at times guy who not only taught us math, but who also drove that coolest little green car around, and around what was known as The Circle.
The Circle was the main mile long drag that connected our entire neighborhood. The neighborhood streets were situated all around this circle with the main elementary school being located right in the center of the circle. Mr. Locke was also in charge of the School Safety Patrol program. As safety patrols, some of us selected six graders would stand at different posts around the Circle to help the rest of the neighborhood kids get to school, and as part of being in charge, Mr. Locke would load up a few of the student-patrol officers and ride around and around the Circle making sure us patrols were all okay at our posts, while getting the rest of the kids to school okay, too.
It’s funny, but I have these fond memories of Mr. Locke and that little green car, going around and around and around the Circle. You could always count on him coming around again, and again and again, and this I could see in my dream—again. But what I didn’t see in my dream about Mr. Locke is what I see when I am awake...
It’s a tender moment, but I see a very young me, sauntering up to the blackboard, and carefully and meticulously copying my math problem onto the board. However before I sit down, I also see, again, a very young innocent me drawing in that chalk the little freshly baked pie next to my assignment. Signing off, Pattie Pie.
And Pattie Pie was what Mr. Locke had nicknamed me. It was an awfully cute name and one I really loved. I thought Mr. Locke was so smart, so genius, SO FUNNY to take a nickname such as PattyCake that I had already gotten used to and thought was SO stupid to then change it to something so fresh and new and FUNNY. I wasn’t Patty CAKE anymore, I was Pattie PIE!
But what my young self didn’t know and that my older self would only soon realize much later in life was that Mr. Locke was also a Math teacher and a very clever one at that.
And you know, I’ll be honest … this never really occurred to me until much later in life on the day I found out he had died some 2 years ago. What a dawning moment that was for me…he called me Pattie Pie…Pie…Pi…some 25 years later…and then having had the dream about him the other night, it’s all making me remember when I realized it all over again.
And this makes me smile softly to myself. I have this vision of him now, way back then, leaning up against his desk, arms probably crossed, watching his students put up their math problems, and then him seeing me who is carefully and meticulously drawing my freshly little baked pie next to my name, which I did EVERY TIME I went up to put my homework problem up…and with a satisfying grin slowly spreading upon his face, I can see him thinking:
She has no idea.
And you know what, he was right. I had absolutely no idea. But now I do, and all I really think now is, PI…what a magical number…what a magical memory…and thank you Mr. Locke for really unlocking it all…just for me. And for the rest of you.
xoxo.
February 10, 4711 - Happy lunar NEW YEAR!
Year of the Water Snake
Sharpies/4x5 notecards
xoxo.
February 2, 2013 - HAPPY NEW YEAR And One month!!
***
So a couple of weeks ago, I came across a flower pot I own, and in a moment of humor, I took a photo of it and posted it on my facebook with the caption that read: O my god, I just discovered I own a racist flower pot!
The responses and reactions to the photo were not very interesting, but the photo itself did cause a reaction in me that forced me to write a memory I do have of a time ago when of course such a crazy misunderstanding really did take place…and on some levels, still can.
I was living in Astoria, Queens with my two roommates then Michael and his boyfriend Xois. This was all before the Da Vinci code craze had happened, so I would say it was during a time when knowledge of what the swastika symbol really meant wasn’t SO common. And if it really was or is common, then I blame the Virginia Beach Public School System and my mother and father…But any way, I had actually recently learned that myself then when I had decided to do this thing with that very knowledge.
I decided to paint the swastika on two separate canvases. One I painted in gold, right-facing, and underneath I wrote the word “Heaven”, and the other canvas, the swastika I painted in black and left-facing and underneath I wrote the word “Hell”. You get the point. However, when I had them stored in my room, I had to put the black one behind the gold one because I didn’t like to look at it, despite it being called what it is. The gold one is just more beautiful. So naturally, the gold one I kept on top.
So now fast forward to one day back in that little apartment. My land line phone in my room wasn’t getting any service in my bedroom. We all had separate lines, so I used my roommate Michael’s line to call Bell Atlantic to report the problem. Bell Atlantic didn’t know what the problem was and said that they would have to send out a tech to take a look at the problem. So I agreed and I waited.
The tech arrived I think like a day later or so, and I remember as if it was yesterday, the tech that showed up at my door was this GORGEOUS black woman, all tough, big and bad, and dressed in a camouflage tee-shirt with big amazonion gold earrings. She was HUGE too. Not like overweight, but like Laila Ali huge. Like she could whip some serious ass if she needed to. I remembering thinking how cool was it that it was also a woman, too. I had been expecting a fat, gross white dude, which is really only my own gross shortcoming to the demonstration of how easily we are sucked into bad stereotypes. But I digress—
Anyway, she was really nice and happy to be there as I showed her in. I remember leading her thru the living room where Michael’s boyfriend Xois (who btw looked like a young David Bowie..and who also looked as Arayan as they come) was lying on the couch. She said hello to him, and he said hello to her back and then onto my room we went. Everything was just copasetic.
Until I opened my bedroom door, when she then followed behind me, and I remember turning around to show her where my phone was, when suddenly I saw her demeanor change before my eyes. It was as if all the blood in her face had drained to her feet. And I may have even asked her if she was okay. I could see she was clearly agitated and I really didn’t understand why. I then just showed her where my phone was and as she reached down to fumble with the wires, I remember seeing how oddly her hands began to shake. They were shaking so nervously that I recall thinking, “Is she ok? Is she going to be able to do this?” Then strangely enough, when she went to pick up my phone, we discovered that the dial tone had mysteriously returned and nothing was absolutely wrong with it.
I laughed nervously though thoroughly relieved it was nothing, and I then apologized profusely to her for having to come out and then started to walk her back to the door. We left my room and I remember my roommate Xois again, saying goodbye to her, but this time the tech just ignored him and didn’t even turn around to say goodbye to me. She just nodded and walked out through the door slamming it behind her. I had no idea what just went down.
Minutes later, I then needed to get something from the corner store.. as I walked down the stoop I noticed the tech was still sitting in her Bell Atlantic van outside my building. I just walked by and went into the store. Then on my way back, I saw her sitting in there still and this time she saw me. She was hunched over and smoking a cigarette and looking angry as fuck. I remember I waved to her as soon as she spotted me, but instead of a wave back, she just glared at me. I gathered she was maybe irritated at me for having made her come all the way out just to discover that some chic probably just kicked a wire loose or something. So I accepted the glare and just went back into the apartment and went back to about my day.
A little later in the night, I started to think about that tech and I then began to wonder why the tech seemed so angry as she sat in her van and why had her demeanor changed from nice and smiley to fearful (when I recalled her shaking hands). It bothered the shit out of me. So much so, that I remember stomping out of the kitchen headed to my room feeling perplexed as hell, when I then finally threw open my bedroom door and then looked up and saw the HUGE GOLD SWASTIKA painted with the words HEAVEN beneath it sitting right in front of me.
OH. My. God.
I had grown so accustomed to having it in my room that I actually forgot that it was there. Immediately, I thought any minute a huge gang of black panthers was going to burst in threw my door. That then I recalled every single minute of the day’s event. Then I remember laughing about it when I thought to myself: But Xois is like the biggest QUEEN you’ve ever met!
But the laughter quickly changed in a state of panic. I remember I called Bell Atlantic IMMEDIATELY. I wanted to find someone who could track down that tech and please tell her what the original meaning of the swastika was because now it all made sense as to why she was giving me looks of death. I felt so So bad. I ended up talking to a very nice old man who then proceeded to tell me about his Jewish ancestry and assured me he understood I meant no harm in how I was going about expressing myself artistically and that he would very much track down “laKeisha” or something like that. I really have no idea if he ever did find the tech I was talking about. I mean the man did make like he knew exactly who I was talking about when I described her and he laughed at why I would probably would be fearing for my life. She was very beautifully intimidating woman.
So to this day, I have to pray that tech got my message. That she didn’t leave thinking that there exists such a couple who…but we all know that there does exist couples like that… there are whole groups of them out there.. and if that tech didn’t really get my message and was left thinking exactly what I fear most, then god bless her for sparing my life.
For REal.
Xoxo.