I've been around for more than 30 years and have internet access. So here I am, offering up digital hieroglyphs, tossing my pebble of influence into the limitless digital ocean of perspective, saying "I was here."
Are you following this remarkable project?
“Solar Impulse has demonstrated that a solar-powered airplane can fly day and night using no fuel. The next challenge is to fly around the world.
Our aim is to prove that progress is possible using clean forms of energy.
Becoming a pioneer is all in the mind. Would you too like to break free of certainties and confront the unknown?”
“The American people have yet to come to terms with the reality that presidents are above the law. Presidents can commit repeated crimes in an outlaw presidency so long as they can invoke, however falsely and vaguely, national security.”
Things That Took Me A While To Learn
Recent events have reminded me how fleeting life is. I’m feeling grateful to have lived long enough to at least feel like i’ve made some sense of my existence. I’ve learned so much from my own and others’ mistakes. This is a working list, in a way, representing my version of a 21st century cave drawing…
Dear Internet, I believe:
• the phrase “i was wrong,” should be used often and can be ironically empowering
• being right isn’t half as important as the delivery
• time is the most valuable resource there is, so be concise
• more than one truth can exist at once and usually does
• we shouldn’t try to fit in. satisfaction comes from seeking out people who connect with and inspire you
• life is nothing without change, you can either create it, or react to it
• we are metaphysical beings. our thoughts and words are just as important as and create our behavior and our world
• learning about the science of the universe can strengthen our spirituality and faith
• if you try to ignore your true passions, they will always call to you, so listen to and cultivate them
• you can’t control love any more than you can close your fist around water. let it wash over you while it lasts
• lead with your heart. no matter what happens, always leave it open and give love freely. you’re stronger than you think.
• forgive. and forgive yourself. we’re all in charge of making ourselves happy. no one is perfect.
about time to learn to grow my own food! today, about 70% of US processed food is genetically modified or engineered. at the very least, we should have mandatory labeling, like 62 other countries already do. dozens of countries have banned GMO and GE foods altogether, and we’re allowing Monsanto backroom deals with congress, granting complete immunity from public health concern and recourse? no matter how you feel about potential health risks, legislation like this should never happen. even with my regularly skeptical outlook, i’m shocked and disheartened Obama ignored 200k+ Americans and signed this into law.
“Lawmakers and companies working together to craft legislation is by no means a rare occurrence in this day and age. But the fact that Sen. Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, actually worked with Monsanto on a provision that in effect allows them to keep selling seeds, which can then go on to be planted, even if it is found to be harmful to consumers, is stunning. It’s just another example of corporations bending Congress to their will, and it’s one that could have dire risks for public health in America.”
we are nothing without dreams. but the world doesn’t belong to those who rely on dreams alone. it belongs to the relentless goal-setters. the achievers. the ones who don’t give up.
relearning the value of specific, measurable goals. making sure my to-do list includes more than errands and chores.
love visiting this #SF Historic Landmark. “When I joined City Lights in 1971, and started working with Lawrence, it was clear that it had been very much a center of protest, for people with revolutionary ideas and people who wanted to change society. And when I first began working at the little editorial office up on Filbert and Grant, people that Lawrence had known through the whole decade of the ’60s were dropping in all the time, like Paul Krassner, Tim Leary, people who were working with underground presses and trying to provide an alternative to mainstream #media. This was a period of persecution, and FBI infiltration of those presses. When I started working here we were in the middle of the Vietnam War, and now it’s Iraq. This place has been a beacon, a place of learning and enlightenment.” ~ Nancy Peters (at City Lights Bookstore)
Believe nothing on the faith of traditions,
even though they have been held in honor
for many generations and in diverse places.
Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it.
Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past.
Do not believe what you yourself have imagined,
persuading yourself that a God inspires you.
Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests.
After examination, believe what you yourself have tested
and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.
(Buddha)
— http://www.sapphyr.net/buddhist/buddhist-quotes.htm
“The only people for me are the mad ones. The ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved.” ~Kerouac
For Sandy Hook
red-rimmed eyes shoot toward the sky
battered hearts, heads spinning, cry out why
face familiar poison we can’t deny
children wake, are kissed, then die?
when it feels all we’re left to do is cry
thousands fret the unresolved reply
answers seem beyond our eyes
but we strain to see, to change, to try
