A World Without Categories...Art Is Why I Get Up in the Morning...You?

An S.O.S.: Calling Upon All Angels

Joy Matters*

*Passion & Compassion*

Seek out, seek in...always seeking, always on a journey to bridge the world within with the world around.

Knowing that so many are hurting and alone when there is no need.

If we could just pause long enough to turn the tide.

We are a force of nature because we are nature.

Even when the oil runs dry, the sun will still fuel us. All the panic takes us further away from our natural state, our connection to the creative force, and to the brilliant power of simply being alive. 

Enjoy the ocean if you can and work toward it.

I aim to use my time to add to the creative rather than destructive forces vying for the Earth's resources.

I have found over a million Earth angels on the same mission: to create sustainable beauty out of life.

Let this be a prelude and not the exception.

I honor the lights of this great city as a power point for change, as the center of art, and as a vine of near-ripe revolutionaries.

Artists, women, good people of the Earth rising: rise some more. 

*Revolution begins with personal evolution...

Bless & Be Blessed*

Friday, November 28, 2008

love is all over the place — there is nothing wrong with your face...


Late night, working all night again, working all week long. almost finished creating the sales page. ah, finding ways to fund the revolution within from without...and vice versa. half of us are dying from a lack of means while the other half are dying from a lack of meaning...trying to create some sort of win-win - something for us all...here late at night....

i was seeking inspiration or distraction. i drew this card. i liked the message. thought i would share...

a toast to the rebel in us all.

oxox

Osho Zen Tarot : Major Arcana

4. The Rebel

The Rebel
People are afraid, very much afraid of those who know themselves. They have a certain power, a certain aura and a certain magnetism, a charisma that can take out alive, young people from the traditional imprisonment....

The enlightened man cannot be enslaved - that is the difficulty - and he cannot be imprisoned....Every genius who has known something of the inner is bound to be a little difficult to be absorbed; he is going to be an upsetting force. The masses don't want to be disturbed, even though they may be in misery; they are in misery, but they are accustomed to the misery. And anybody who is not miserable looks like a stranger.

The enlightened man is the greatest stranger in the world; he does not seem to belong to anybody. No organization confines him, no community, no society, no nation.

Osho: The Zen Manifesto: Freedom from Oneself: Chapter 9

Commentary:
The powerful and authoritative figure in this card is clearly the master of his own destiny. On his shoulder is an emblem of the sun, and the torch he holds in his right hand symbolizes the light of his own hard-won truth.

Whether he is wealthy or poor, the Rebel is really an emperor because he has broken the chains of society's repressive conditioning and opinions. He has formed himself by embracing all the colors of the rainbow, emerging from the dark and formless roots of his unconscious past and growing wings to fly into the sky. His very way of being is rebellious - not because he is fighting against anybody or anything, but because he has discovered his own true nature and is determined to live in accordance with it. The eagle is his spirit animal, a messenger between earth and sky.

The Rebel challenges us to be courageous enough to take responsibility for who we are and to live our truth.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

giving thanks...

And each person is such an infinite mystery, inexhaustible, unfathomable, that it is not possible that ever you can say that "I have known her," or, "I have known him." At the most you can say, "I have tried my best, but the mystery remains a mystery." In fact the more you know, the more mysterious the other becomes.
Then love is a constant adventure....

*I am thankful for love: in my life and all around me.

thank you to every person and every pool of possibility that has been my life.

thank you for the shared heart-ache and struggle, thank you for the laughter and the moments in between all the big moments - all the moments that count seem to be the ones we are not counting.

thank you to all the revolutionaries who have been fighting the good fight with gratitude in their hearts year round. thank you to all of the people not going shopping tomorrow. thank you to all of those finding god before and in themselves without needing the ugly stories of our history books to make this day something special. just a day to give thanks.

I am thankful for my new president: watch this video - it makes me thankful.

I am thankful for family, for community, roots, growth, for everyone I have ever known and have yet to know.

I am thankful for the breath in my lungs and my desire to evolve. I am thankful for morning and for night...and for the light that seeps from us while we are sleeping.

I am thankful that we always can move into what is happening with fresh eyes. I am grateful for the many rebirths I have had in this single lifetime.

Today I pray for all living beings, for Mother Earth and Father Sky, for the best and the worst in us. I pray that the glimpse of global joy that we have recently received continues forward into a world that learns to celebrate together with as much passion and drive as we have learned to fight against each other.

Everything is waiting for us to dream it - everything is waiting for us to dare it. Everything is everything and anything is better than nothing. so be thankful. just be greatful.

I tell myself this daily. And to all those I have hurt - to the friendships in peril - with sunita, ziad and allison - so much healing is needed. time that we don't seem to have or be able to catch-up with. well, the time is coming. I am so grateful. so thankful for what we share...even when we have our differences. even when we are at our worst cause I am in it for the long haul - for better, for worse, in sickness and in health.

I am grateful.

oxox

Monday, November 17, 2008

voting as an aphrodisiac: cause nothing is more sexy than giving a fuck...







I have a long piece of writing to add here...coming soon. I am still caught-up in the moment - in myself.

Thursday, November 6, 2008






An Unprecedented Event Peaks on Waves of Emotions

By N. R. KLEINFIELD
Published: November 5, 2008

You had to watch, and if you couldn’t watch you had to hear.

In this election for the ages, Albert Watson, 56, was the doorman stuck with the night shift on Tuesday evening at an apartment building on East 96th Street in Manhattan — no television, no radio, no smartphone or smart anything, a man starved of information on this night of all nights.

He had to know.

Joanna Gunderson, 76, from the 12th floor, recognized this, and she padded down and told him about Indiana. His friend from church, Faith Murray, who was home glued to the television in the Bronx, called him frequently with feeds. Here she was with news of 16 states deposited in the Obama column, his man on the way.

As the desired verdict was reached, Mr. Watson knew he was going to “be drinking all kinds of Champagne tomorrow.” He savored the moment. He said, “Today is a date to be glad and rejoice.”

At last, when the stampede of polls and blogged opinions and phone-bank calls no longer mattered and it was a done deal, supporters of Senator Barack Obama arrayed everywhere from a Las Vegas casino to an Iowa supermarket to a call center in Gurgaon, India, exulted with jubilation and abundant relief.

For Senator John McCain’s backers, it was no longer possible to bank on comebacks and upsets. Spin finally stood still. The underdog would remain just that.

In an energized election heavily draped in symbolism, response was particularly emotive at settings already permanently encased in history’s glow. At the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the home church of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a “Watch Night” was accompanied by a candlelight vigil across the street at the crypt where Dr. King is buried.

“It’s just like a new world,” said Leroy Johnson, 80, a former state senator who was a year behind Dr. King at Morehouse College. “It’s a new life.”

The quadrennial institution of election-watching reached something of a frenzied pinnacle. Just about everyone felt compelled to see the concluding moments of this exhausting and exhaustive narrative unfurl — state by state, talking head by talking head.

Throngs of parties and events bubbled throughout the country, almost colliding into one another. Updates turned up everywhere.

At the Izod Center in the Meadowlands, where the New Jersey Nets were hosting the Phoenix Suns, the most raucous applause came not from dunks but from half-hourly election dispatches beamed on the Jumbotron. When Pennsylvania fell to Mr. Obama, the crowd erupted, clapping their thunder sticks together. During timeouts, even the players looked.

Parties were de rigueur at college campuses, where any election (or actually, anything) qualifies as adequate reason to party.

At the Sykes Student Union at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa., the election event was choreographed to be lively. Hence offerings like pin the tail on the donkey/elephant. Hence have a picture taken with McCain and Obama (18 Obama, 2 McCain). Students were urged to dress as their candidate for the chance at “awesome prizes.”

Once victory was projected, students mounted tables, hugged and chanted, “Obama, Obama.”

“This broke the back of racial politics,” said a tearful Marc Fauntleroy, 21.

Matt Whittall, 18, an accounting major and McCain supporter, felt that too many potential McCain voters on campus had been overwhelmed by Democratic “propaganda.”

As pursuit of the highest office tends to do, the scalding campaign had singed certain relationships. At the East Ridge Retirement Village in Cutler Bay, Fla., dinner is communal, starting at — yes — 4:15 p.m., hard on the heels of Happy Hour. In recent weeks, some Obama and McCain supporters had insulated themselves at separate tables, politics overwhelming shared interests in golf, bridge and the best foot ointments.

It was that way again on Tuesday, residents migrating to candidate-pure tables as drinks and later beef stew and maple-glazed turkey were served. At her table, Patricia Bayer, 85, announced that she had voted for Mr. McCain, prompting Frances McClure, 74, who had voted for Mr. Obama, to exclaim, “What? I’m out of here.”

And she was.

Stomachs satisfied, everyone repaired to their units to watch. The McCain voters, like Barbara Sims, 79, and her husband Robert Sims Sr., 86, knew it could be a short and sour evening. This would not be another 2000, when the sun came out, breakfast was served and the election firmly entered the Twilight Zone.

The Simses could take only so much. When Ohio was called, Mr. Sims said, “Forget it.” He went to walk the dog.

Reporting was contributed by Yolanne Almanzar, Lisa A. Bacon, Dan Bilefsky, Nick Bunkley, Ana Facio Contreras, Thayer Evans, Steve Friess, C.J. Hughes, Jon Hurdle, Hari Kumar, Christopher Maag, Rachel Pomerance, Joel D. Stonington and Jennifer Seter Wagner.

A version of this article appeared in print on November 5, 2008, on page P11 of the New York edition.

uncensored waves of excitement...




On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 11:02 AM, kortney ryan ziegler wrote:

10:32 AM kortney: dude. we have a black president!
10:33 AM me: i know i am watching his speech again right now
it is amazing
kortney: its incredible
me: everyone in nyc was celebrating-
kortney: but they banned gay marriage in ca
10:34 AM me: i went to soho and harlem
kortney: yeah here in chicago too---obviously
i didn't go to the rally--too many people
do you think better things will happen here now?
me: yes
i really do
not because of him but because of how people have to change
10:35 AM kortney: me too
me: last night all these straight latino men came up and apologized for being homophobic and how obama had taught them to be more open minded
10:36 AM men where shooting for a female president next
strangers were buying each other drinks
kortney: :-)
me: it is so fucking crazy
kortney: i think we will have a female prez next
definitely
10:37 AM me: for sure
kortney: or a queer one
you're right--people have to change
peoples mind sets have to
he swept the election---it wasn't even close
me: it was a land slide
10:38 AM even white males, even everybody- you should have seen it here
it was bigger than new year's
10:39 AM i think it broken open the new future-
kortney: thats why the world won't end in 2012
me: everyone knows it is not just about him but we all beat the big white big christian beast-
kortney: yeah everyone here was crying and shit
me: it is the first jew vp
kortney: white dudes hugging each other
joe biden is jewish?
wow
i didn't know
10:40 AM all prezzies have been anglo-saxon christians!
me: because it is that dumb church white christian shit and people are done with it
- i know
kortney: hell yeah
kortney: i think people are tired of being sick, having relatives killed or kill innocent people, losing their homes, feeling scared
10:41 AM me: do you know i just went out to get coffee with yuki and all these kids where cheering that they were ready to fight for everyone's rights - chanting it
10:43 AM kortney: :-)
me: in harlem there has been battle after battle between latino and blacks and last night i watched the speech in a barber shop and the blacks and latinos were toasting with champagne
kortney: i think the kids won the election though
all of em are so into the internet
me: saying they vowed not to fight any loner
kortney: i mean youngsters---who can vote
how crazy it must be to be a kid right now and grow up with a black prezident
me: i know
10:44 AM did you see how happy his beautiful girls look
can you imagine the old people who lived in segregation
10:45 AM can you imagine how crazy a leap this is- it is so beautiful
it is the first time i feel like the shit they have always said we are fighting for is real
kortney: i actually felt like, in a way, democracy worked yesterday
i felt good voting
10:46 AM people look at me different on the street now
they have to
our leader looks like me...
me: hahah i am crying it is so amazing
it is true
i feel like i have to bow down to every black person i see
every person i see
10:47 AM that we are all on level ground for the first time
it is weird
i know you may think i am being weird right now and i am sorry if it is unrefined of me but this is so huge
10:48 AM i feel excited for everybody to have a voice that we may have something other than this dictatorship
kortney: no it's amazing
it's fucking amazing
i can't believe after over 450 years
10:49 AM its funny cuz i was watching all the news shows and all these white dudes were stuttering
haha
it's like they wanted it to happen, but now that it actually has, i think they're like..."oh shit!"
me: ha it just has to blow wide open
they chanted for change and now it is coming
10:50 AM what is it like when people look at you?
10:51 AM kortney: iono
just different i think
they have to
me: but people keep smiling right - like a bow
10:52 AM i feel like people are trying to pay respect in the way they look at people of color now - not just black and white
10:53 AM kortney: true
me: i am going to go out in a bit and take more pictures
kortney: i'm in the library. i have to study
me: i am working with liz abzug who is his chief feminist advisor
kortney: btw michigan now has medicinal marijuana laws
awesome
me: what president has chosen a feminist advisor
kortney: i saw gloria steinem on tv today
10:54 AM me: what did she say
kortney: she is excited pretty much
what else could she say, right?
10:55 AM everyone is excited
its like south africa and nelson mandela
me: i know
yes
kortney: anyways
i gotta get going to get that phd, ya know, cuz i could be president one day
hahaha
me: last night was a break in apartheid
you could and should be.
i am your number one fan
always
10:56 AM you are brilliant
all you have ever done is brilliant
i loved seeing you in nyc
i am so proud of your movie, your art, your mind and your soul
kortney: and people all over the world now have to see our country differently
you know how many people are gonna come visit now
10:57 AM me: it's all up from here - we are alive right now for a reason!!
we are alive in this time for a reason.
i say this over and over- it is what keeps me going
10:58 AM kortney: yeah!
me: i love you, may you have many great visitors
may you make films
honey, i have a ton of work too
but i am going out to shoot right now
kortney: may you take awesome photos of this event
me: i think you need to go film
kortney: did you get good ones last night??
me: put it into one of your movies in the tv background
10:59 AM or something
kortney: i want to get a newspaper but they are all gone. it's ok. the internet is still here!
haha yeah huh
me: yeah but i think you should go out
this moment will never come again
take in all the energy you can while it is out on the streets
11:00 AM anyway, good luck with your day however you take it?
kortney: i'm studying
i have papers to grade and class tomorrow
life goes on
11:01 AM although i feel a bit better about being alive today
it feels good
me: just grade them in the corner coffee shop
it is everywhere
kortney: haha yeah
i'm at northwestern law school
11:02 AM i felt i should come here just to be black
hahaha!
me: i love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! take the fuck over
kortney: i love you too!
me: enjoy the ride. no more need to hide your tattoos
11:03 AM kortney: you'd better be getting some fucking dope photos
exactly!
me: i am on the way - mission 90
kortney: and now my film will be even more controversial and popular
thanks obama!
me: now people will appreciate my photos of the protest more - thank you obama
11:04 AM kortney: :-)
me: oxox
sine
shione
shine
i was just spelling wrong because i was rushing
kortney: haha ok
talk to you later
me: there were no hidden messages there. just 3rd time's a charm
11:05 AM ok