Chill Out

Going to friend Teri's over the weekend for an early birthday celebration.  It'll be good to see her again, and also good for a little change of pace.

We don't do anything much....just watch movies, have a few sips of something special, eat some good food and enjoy one another's company.   We've been friends since Diane and I returned to San Francisco from Venice....sure was good finding such a great friend....same thing with Janie. 

So I may not write anything into the blog for a couple of days.....I might write something on paper and then add it later, but we'll see.  My main goal this weekend, after several weeks of grueling paperwork, helping with taxes and so on, A chance to unwind, take my mind off things and relax.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Chill Out...because that's just what I intend to do. 

Of Budgets and Bombs

They're spinning speeches and trying to argue out their differences on Capitol Hill today; trying to keep the government from closing down.  As a nation, our credit card is maxed out and folks from both sides of the aisle are having a field day on getting their political points infused into the argument.

Agendas abound as the Majority Leader cites things like abortion funding as a reason for not passing the current budget, and the Minority Leader cites things like BLM employees waiting for paychecks.....spending and policy, spending and policy.  A push-me-pull-you debate that will either be settled by midnight tonight, or the United States government effectively shuts down.

They assure us that things like Social Security will not be effected....yet. $38billion in cuts being talked about.
Funding for the military is still on the table.

Personally, I wish to be off disability and earning a decent living.  Always wanted to do that and even held a few jobs, but they didn't last long.  Only "jobs" that seem to last for me are voluntary-that is, no pay or benefits.   But when I plunk down the resume at a place for employment, my many years of computer graphics experience, typing ability (used to be 150 wpm, now down to about 100 due to arthritis) they look at my crutches and my age and all the sudden the position has been filled.

I try to earn money online, most of this involves an investment of some sort....which I don't have.  But I do these online surveys, that helps a little; to the tune of about $50.00 a month.  Not much, but every little bit helps.

We need to get our government's house in order....every one needs to work together, regardless of political affiliation. 

As we listen to the news, Iran's  Shafi' Zadeh nuclear plant is being loaded with Russian fuel.  Some say that this site is actually a weapon base. Some are saying this is a dangerous thing, while others accuse the USA of meddling in others affairs....that we shouldn't be concerned.  What's really going on? Which way is up? 

The news these days is enough to make one's head spin.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Of Budgets and Bombs....headlines in the news, or maybe its just a crazy dream.

Hands-On-Dreaming

We interrupt global warming, the budget conflict, the riots in the streets everywhere and all other madness and mayhem to make this announcement:

WE RECORDED YESTERDAY!

This incredible event has me dancing on air, feeling alive and wonderful.....Jack felt well enough to work on his song "Rock n Roll Attitude" for a few hours today; and not just sitting on the bed tinkering ....he went into the studio and we recorded and filmed, with the help of our friend Jack White. 

Sure, it sounded a little rusty...he's not been playing much lately and forgot a few words, but none the less it felt good seeing him at the microphone, guitar in hand, making music.  He got tired after a couple attempts and laid down for the rest of the day, but felt that he accomplished something.  So that's good.

I feel happy too....and pray that my Jack gets feeling better and better every day, for his own sake.  And also for a few selfish reasons; I love him and want him to have a good quality of life, I want us to make music and continue on with our dream. 


So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Hands-On Dreaming, sculpting our hopes into reality....one day at a time.

For What It's Worth

Crosby Stills, Nash (and Young) sang a song "For What It's Worth."
That song's going through my head a lot these days.

There's talk that the government is going to shut down if a budget agreement is reached.  What exactly does that mean?  Do Congress and the Senate still get  paychecks?  Does the President?  Who really is effected by this shut down, and if we saw it coming why wasn't politics set aside so that something pro-active could happen?

I don't understand.  I don't think even the Dali Lama could figure it out.

I am trying not to sound like I believe everything that Glenn Beck has to say, because I don't.  But having independently checked, through sources of my own,  what he's saying I wonder if he isn't hitting things on the mark....at least some of the time.

Now I understand he's leaving the Fox News Network.  I wonder where he'll land next.

But what's going on isn't about personalities really, it's about a jolting and absolute change in the world, and in our country....that change from Government to Governance is not only subtle, it is deceiving. To go from a representational structure to a managerial one is quite a shift, although the verbiage would have us believe otherwise.

Of course there are so many people in the world that on many things a consensus needs to be reached.  We need to find a way to live on this ball of dirt, 'cos that's all we got.   But how do we do it without either annihilating one another or becoming a planet of sheeple ruled by tyranny?

How do we find that place where there is enough governing without smothering and destroying human potential? How do we look for our best possible selves and not use that search as an excuse for promoting ethnic purity and genocide?

For today, Fifty Five Is The New

Better Angels Of Our Nature

Looking around, why should the ramblings of any one individual matter when the world all around seems poised to annihilate itself at the drop of a hat? Yet there are many people out there, blogging and keeping websites....letting their thoughts be seen/heard/experienced/shared by and with others.

And who knows, in the great somewhere out there where all broadcasts and ideas go, maybe others might be following.....

And if so, hello.

For what ever reason, we humans have been leaving monuments since we first got the idea to do so....way back when we scratched a mark onto a cliff side, built mounds, stacked rocks or built sky scrapers. But even more, we've been leaving records of our thoughts, words, deeds and dreams; through art, music, story telling, the printed word, poetry, dance, theater and other media. 

And let us not forget the sciences....the mathematics.....the analysis of it all that forces us to seek the meaning of it all.  This, too, is art....sharing the same longing that an artist has for brush and canvas.  This passion is also found in the job well done; be it a physics equation or sweeping a floor, delivering the mail or collecting the trash.....there's an artistry in everything done to the best of one's true ability.

That doesn't mean no competition; nor does it mean everybody is going to succeed. That's not natural, and like it or not we are natural beings. "Civilization" as a commonality seems to mean little more than that we don't use our dinner cutlery to slit each others' throats at a banquet.  And these days even that line has been crossed with suicide bombers taking out restaurants full of people.

I know the world is changing.  I know certain things will never be the same once this reshuffling takes place and that it's going to get a little crazy for a while.  But I'm also going to have faith that the better angels of our nature will ultimately win, because it's all just too beautiful....to interesting....to let it end on an ash heap.

So for today, Fifty Five Is the New better angels of our nature.....because.

Memories of School Bus Days

 

Going through some of our old photos, I came across this one from around 1994 or so....we were living in our school bus home on the streets of San Francisco.

In many ways it was a good life; not an easy one by any means....but we got by.  We made our own electricity, found and pumped our own water, took care to dump our own waste.  Like true pioneers. And we managed to do it for about three years.

We parked at China Basin the majority of the time, along with others who preferred wheel estate to real estate.

It was like a little, loosely connected community of individualistic folk who found an alternate way to live. 

Sometimes I miss that lifestyle; being able to park somewhere wonderful to watch the sunset while eating a nice home cooked meal, the million dollar view we had through our windshield, the way folks watched as we drove by....even our kitty, Mocha, seemed to enjoy it.

But life changes, and we along with it.  All that's left are the memories, but they are plenty to keep me happy.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Memories of School Bus Days...the old 58 GMC, still sweet on my mind.

Diane Remembered

Diane

It's been 3 years since Diane passed....still feels strange to say that, even though her friends knew it was coming for a very long time. Diane acted like she didn't know, or at least like she didn't believe it was possible all the way up to the day she died, or at least that's the way it seemed.

She kept trying new tests, new procedures, new chemotherapies...followed diets that would starve anybody, pretty much obsessed on her health to the exclusion of all else, including her artwork.  It was sad and difficult to watch....knowing we were seeing someone die before our eyes.

Damn that disease!  Damn Ovarian Cancer! 

Tonight I'll raise a glass to toast my friend. I'll remember our time together and perhaps shed a tear or two....wishing things could have been better for her.

But for what ever reason she had that experience, I am grateful to have had such a friend in my life.

So for today, Fifty Five Is The New Diane Remembered, because friends like that you don't forget.