Why Isn't Ron Paul "Winning"?

"Winning". Who knew? Before a man called Charlie Sheen decided to publicly play out what a personal and professional meltdown looked like in front of the whole world in 2011, to most of us the word "winning" was primarily relegated to sports and political competitions. In reality we won't know if ole "Tiger Blood" is truly "winning" for another year or two at best. But like most, I wish him the best in whatever he decides to do next. If anything I'm sure it will be interesting.
Speaking of "winning", I was pondering the Ron Paul dilemma this morning. On the one hand Ron Paul appears to stand well above all the other candidates on both sides of the fence in his ethics integrity and understanding of what the American constitutional republic is supposed to look and act like, and how it was originally meant to function. The American people have known him for years now; he's not a Ross Perot/Herman Cain like newcomer out of left field. Everyone seems to know who he is and almost everyone seems to like and respect him.
He's a respected doctor (I've got two different friends from Texas who he "delivered" when they were born many years ago - he's truly beloved in his hometown), an admired loyal family man, and a civil servant who's been re-elected to Congress multiple times. He makes sense when he speaks. He doesn't waffle shift or switch his positions on 'the issues'; doesn't accept bribes, lobbyist money or giant corporate campaign contributions. No Wall Street croneys, no shady skeletons in his closet to hide, mask, or explain away.
He's the only candidate in the race on either side of the fence who is bold enough to speak the truth about the secretive nefarious private foriegn banking cartel known as "the Federal Reserve". For that alone he is one of the most heroic public figures in American politics today. A living "founding father" legend.
From a distance Ron Paul appears to be as popular a cultural figure with the American people as any modern day celebrity. And yet he has not "won" or placed "first" in any of these little pre-primary electoral games they play thus far in the political party he's decided to run in. It's an odd situation, an anomaly. Ron Paul may be winning the hearts and minds of popular culture both in America and abroad, he is not winning Primaries.
To even consider that the Republican Party may decide to select someone like Miitt Romney or Newt Gingrich as their "nominee", with all their respective baggage and their "questionable at best" repuatuons, to run against one of the most revered presidents in recent memory, Barack Obama... It's truly a bewildering thought to ponder. If Ron Paul is so beloved, why is he such a distant third? What is it that registered Republicans do not see in Paul? (Yes, please feel free to answer if you call yourself a Repub)
And further, do any Republicans really believe that The Newt or The Mitt have even a slim chance of beating Barack Obama in the general election? Personally speaking, I'm stymied by it. Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate who has a chance of earning Democrat or Independent votes; which is what it's going to take to beat Obama come November. So what gives? What are Republican voters thinking? Why havent they embraced the slightly whacky brilliant and honorable lone wolf? Any ideas?

Last Screening: THE INVISIBLE MAN and THE LION

Don't have much time this evening. Tired. Discovered something quite unexpected but thoroughly enjoyable considering the circumstances. After 12 hours of personal introspection and consciousness and spiritual work sometimes there's nothing better than an old movie. Just to bring one down to earth a bit and free the attention particles. Look, look away. Look, look away. It's a technique employed both by the Avatar materials and Anthony Robbin's work. Though Tony refers to it as "immersion, abstinence..." It's also a powerful method to master skills much faster when learning or studying almost anything.

So... There's a little something on the tele called TMC or TCM. A channel called Turner Classic Movies or close to that. It's quite wonderful. I had heard of the channel, but this whole researching television project is still fairly new to me. I didn't realize how special it was, playing all these classic old films, some over a hundred years old and some of which have never before been seen on television. Yes it's very niche, perhaps only for film geeks, but one could easily become addicted to it for a few weeks at least I'd think.

Last night we caught a surprisingly powerful film called THE LION starring Trevor Howard, William Holden and the French actress Capucine. Highly recommended. Trevor Howard = new fave classic actor. He was very cool. This evening we are watching the original film version of HG Welles classic THE INVISIBLE MAN starring Claude Raines. Interestingly enough this is Raines' first starring role. Imagine that. In it he's already "the finest actor of his day" Claude Raines... Very good.

More later. Check out the network if old movies are your thing.

Avatar Wizards Course Day 3

"Look around you. Everything you see wouldn't be there if you weren't here to view it... You're quite a powerful creator." Harry Palmer

Excited but exhausted. The ego is hanging on tightly for it's life as I as consciousness continue to slowly unravel it. All the "I am's" are coming up, asserting themselves strong. I am tired. I am a night owl, not an early bird. I am cool. I am smart. I am worried. I am not perfect. I am wants approval. I am wants to be liked. I am doesn't want to be worng. Unless I am can be right or liked or cool or approved of by deliberately being wrong. Ah hah!

Today we go deeper. We'll unravel more. We being me here typing and the invisible me who appears to exist somewhere in my mind and occasionally speaks subtle truths quietly, the me I usually label higher self, God, angels, spirit guides or intuition. Once unravelled we will unite and become one. No more we. Only I, or I am the I am. I've heard that before...

But still... As good as it all sounds, who are 'we' really? Did I really create I? Or did someone else create I? Did a God create I? Is that who I am is talking to?Or is it just another aspect of I/I am? One that I am is not fully connected to all the time? Were we really created eons ago by an extraterrestrial alien race and just don't yet know it? Or further... Did we just slowly evolve organically out of somethingness that at some point was nothingness?

But what is nothingness? It's still something if we are attempting to imagine it. Thus nothingness is unimaginable. Somethingness cannot come from nothing. A priori, the first cause cause etc... Yet still no proof.

In time though. Time. It's nearly gone now. Off line. Thought it was day 4 yesterday. Feels like I've been here for weeks.

Still seeing friends from all over the world as if they weren't here the last few days. Three thousand Wizards. An incredible feeling, energy... The potential of it boggles 'the mind'.

Today is the first day of the rest of I am's life. Right now is the first moment of the rest of I am's life. I am is excited about the possibilities. Together we will go deeper than we've ever gone before. We'll go for the big stuff. Haha again... Big stuff becomes small stuff becomes no stuff. Then what's left? Well, we don't know yet but we shall see.

The Ambassador is on His Way Back

Raw. That's how I describe it. Feels like there's fire running through my veins. That's another way. But most people don't understand these ideas. Perhaps only conceptually at best. So we say things like I feel anxious all the time. Wired. I can't sleep. Except during the day. After a long night of laying there awake fighting to fall asleep. So they call us vampires. Night owls.
I wrote a chapter in this tome once long ago called Night People Day People based on seeing the populace of the neighborhood I lived in starting to wake up leave their houses and get in their cars to go to work at around 6 and 7 am while I was still up tripping on LSD. Realizing that "people like us are different. We're still awake. Our day is still going. Our night is still going. These people stumbling drearily out of their houses to head to the gym or a job have awoken to a new day. These Day People, they have no idea that the Night People are still awake. Watching them."
I had calculated that the way we were living back then --up for three days, down for about 12 to 16 hours, up for another three days etc -- we only got two and half days per week. Compared to normal people who experience a week as seven days. I'd wake up on a Monday and stay up till wednesday or thursday. Then crash at noon or even six at night. By the time i woke up again it would be friday morning or afternoon at three. How the hell did we get from monday to Friday we used to ask. But it happened. A lot.
And that's rock and roll. In a nutshell. I lived that way for years. For a decade or more really. I've written about it extensively. I'm glad for that. Because it's hard for me to remember those days now. I've just not posted those years here yet. But we'll get around to it.
But what's the point? Why are we here now? We're here because fire is running through our veins once more. We cry a lot. I can feel again. And it hurts sometimes. It also feels incredible. I can't believe I spent the last three years not feeling. I feel like my eyes are bugging out. Like rays of lasers are shooting out of them. That's why we're here now. 3 am in the morning. The whole house asleep. The night people still awake. But it's only me now. Gone is all the madness. Gone is the bandhouse with The Grey Wolf and The Toad and Coon and Madelynne O'Ryan. I'm married now. Supposed to be settled down. Those years are long gone. I'm the only Vampire in the house now.
Thats another thing that happens. Your memory comes back. You start remembering things you forgot about years ago. And music. I hear music now. I'm starting to anyway. The problem is I'm not quite ready to talk about what I'm really talking about. So I won't. But it's a strange sensation. It's going to be a wild ride. But I can feel it. The Ambasador is on his way back. God help any soul who gets in the way.

Farewell Christmas We Shall Miss You

I enjoy my job. Nearly every aspect of it. Though i must admit i enjoy recording and promoting new albums more than being on the road now; perhaps it's my age. I can't imagine saying this when I first started in the business in my late teens. Perhaps it's also due to the fact that I've finally married, after searching and waiting so long for it. I feel very lucky that I waited so long. The most obvious advantage being that I made quite sure that I married the right person. There is also the undeniable fact that unlike many I allowed myself ample time to sow my wild oats so to speak. At the very least I never worry about that 50% divorce rate caused by so many men in the States who claim to hit a midlife crisis and abandon their wife and children in favor of a motorcycle and their 25 year old secretary.

The truth is that I love to travel as much as I ever have. But I'd much prefer my new wife accompany me. Too few men these days unfortunately seem able or willing to make this claim. Thats a shame for us all. I also love being home; home being anywhere my wife and family are.

Every evening at some point between the hour of 1 to 3 am I pick up our little Cavalier Spaniel from where he's been sleeping on our bed while the Princess sleeps and I wind down from a long days work and I walk him down a long staircase in our entryway to escort him on one last walk outside before he retires to his own bed. This assures he will sleep through the night. And we too of course. As I slowly descend the stairs with the sleepy little boy in my arms it is always this image I see glowing in front of me from our living room during the 30 days or so we call the Christmas Season.

It is always a welcoming and soothing site. This Christmas tree all aglow. The calming scent of pine and fir in the air. This evening I realized we have probably exceeded the normal duration that one keeps a Christmas tree up. Tonight could be the last that Alistair and I see the glow of the tree welcoming us downstairs in the middle of the night. And that's ok. Everything has it's time and place.

2011 was sheer madness. To be sure. 2012 offers all of us a chance for new beginnings. We can feel it in the air. No one I've spoken to whether friend family or associate has had an easy time over the last twelve months or so. And yet no one can pinpoint why exactly. Life itself seems to have stepped on the accelerator and taken a turn toward mild insanity. The only good I see coming from it is that everyone seems aligned in desiring to slow things down. There also seems to be a strong shift towards renewed faith, and family values. A sincere desire to commit more time and attention to the things in life that really matter.

Nothing bad can come from this. I can't quite make out yet if we are all preparing for something devilish and ominous to come, or if everyone is just plain exhausted from last year's madness and wants a breather. Either way, this slowing down will do us all some good I'm sure. Christmas trees that glow in the middle of the night and fill a room with the scent of forests tend to do this to all of us. My only wish is that this feeling stays with us through the rest of this year no matter what happens next. We shall surely miss Christmas as much as we were surprised by it's early arrival only a few weeks ago.

But let's hope that we are successful in our longing to create more peace tranquility wellness honesty faith hope and love in this new year. God knows we need it. I've never seen a more chaotic year than 2011 in my entire life on earth thus far. And I dare say I'd be happy to never see another. No matter what happens in 2012, let us remember the basics. Family friends good deeds health and wellness tradition values charity hope justice faith and most of all happiness. We deserve it. This is it after all. This IS that one life we've all been blessed with. I am more grateful than I've ever been.

You know when you know that you know

Most people may not know it. But YOU do. YOU... KNOW... when you know that you know. You just know it. And no matter what anyone else says or thinks they know, you know that you know you know; and that's as golden as gets. Though it's not without it's challenges. Number one, you need to learn to and learn how to trust it. If you really know you know, then you know. And you know that. So forget about what other people say or claim to believe. You need to master the art of ignoring the various objections you may hear from others; for arguing about something you already know you know is a waste of precious time effort and energy. You will also want to cultivate a thick skin in order to handle the occasional attacks on your character by those whose insecurities compel them to resort to ad hominem falacies when confronted with people of superior intelligence.

Try to remember "the lowest common deniminator phenomenon"... Ie that there are billions of people on planet earth, and that most of them are either not so smart or not so bold as to stand up to the not so smart to defend the few who stick out because they know things most people don't. Call it the law of crowds, or mob rules, or live and let die. It's an unfortunate aspect of being alive in human form on planet earth that throughout recorded human history almost anyone who knew something valuable well before most others was usually mocked ridiculed attacked imprisoned or put to death because of it. Think Jesus Gandhi Gallileo Tesla Einstein or MLK. To name only a few.I'm sure there are thousands of examples. Knowing stuff can be dangerous.

In our own time names like David Icke or Richard Branson or even the late Steve Jobs come to mind. Without an ounce of brand loyalty nor any corporate sponsorship (I'm certainly not opposed to the latter though) take Steve Jobs for example simply because his story makes a great case to further the point. From the very beginning of the personal computer age to the present day, Jobs had numerous opponents objectors and competitors. Most notably Bill Gates and his fledgling Microsoft. It's no secret anymore that Gates and company tricked deceived and stole many of the most important elements of their Windows OS from the more gullible Jobs and Wozniack(sp?) and their burgeoning Apple Computers OS. It's also no secret that no matter how much one pays for a "Windows based PC", it will never look or perform as well or as quickly or as efficiently as an Apple computer. And yet the majority of the aforementioned billions of people on planet earth still use said Windows based PCs instead of Apple.

Call it the law of the land. The idea of the masses of mediocrity controlling things in our world is so ingrained in all of us that as most people now know Steve Jobs was fired from his job as CEO of Apple even though it was his own company. Yet again, if Jobs suffered from anything besides the arrogance that often accompanies the intelligence of those who know they know that they know it was gullibility. Of course history eventually self corrected that injustice in the nick of time right before Apple was about to go bust and bringing him back on board not only saved Apple the company, it also revolutionized how nearly every person on earth lives works communicates and functions; along with half a dozen global industries as well. Steve Jobs and "what he knew" was vindicated in this case. But many aren't.

And yet we cannot forget the more important point of the Steve Jobs story, that being that Microsoft branded Windows based computers still outsell the far superior Apple brand by at least 100 to 1. Truth be told those numbers may be much higher. The statistics aren't as important as the phenomenon itself. It's an anomaly that is as easily understandable, due to this "lowest common denominator phenom", as it is surprising.

If you get this then you probably also get the gist of the importance of staying true to yourself when you know you know whatever it is that you know. But social pressures are often the straw that breaks the back of many of the smartest people in human society. Many play dumb to fit in. Pretending they don't know what they know. Or at least don't know as much of it as they do. Others simply give in to the threat of losing contact with others due to recognizing that if they stand tall and speak up about how much they know then they start to get verbally attacked by those around them. Sometimes those "others" can be the closest people in proximity to you. One's own family or best friends.

People don't like "know it alls". And most of us simply don't have the time nor the capactity to know it all. But if you know a lot about a thing or two you may have experienced this label being branded on you more than once in your life. It hurts. It's not fun. People will accuse you of always thinking you're right all the time. The problem is that you may well be right all the time because you may be one of the few who don't ever speak about something unless you know for sure that you're right. Or not. Only you know. But 99% of people don't live this way. So they have no idea that it's possible. Take a few days of silence and do nothing but listen to other people. Whether in person or on the Internet or the radio or the TV, most people just talk all the time regardless of whether they know what they're talking about or not. If you're one of the few who already know you know that you know then you know this already. Which means you also understand why the world we live in has always been so compromised mediocre and painful.

Most people are not half as interested in being right as they are to being heard. Which is why the world is filled with so much noise disguised as content. Erroneous soundbites created by misinformed (or worse yet, disinformed) propaganda machines. Mediocrity for the masses of mediocre. But again, if you're one of the few who know, then you know this already. The secret is to do your best to disguise the fact that you know this so you can maintain a semblance of feeling and appearing as though you fit in.

Some people don't recognize how often you confess to not knowing things so you can in turn ask about and then learn about whatever it is in that moment that you don't think you know enough about. This is one of the tell-tale signs of a someone who knows a whole hell of a lot versus a pompous know it all who only thinks they know a lot. People who know a lot have no problem admitting when they dont know something. In fact they do it all the time. They remain in effect in a constant state of knowing how much they dont know and thus are always attempting to do something about it.

This is why -- if you're a long time reader of The Transcendence Diaries or just one of those who "know" -- you may remember the old adage proffered here years ago stating that "Those who truly KNOW (all cap KNOW) know that they don't know. (meaning they know that they don't know much of anything and will therefore never truly KNOW) and thus this is how those who KNOW can recognize others who KNOW. By the fact that they know that they don't really KNOW and they don't mind admitting it. None of us do. This, it turns out, is just about the only thing there is to really know. Therefore if you're ever in a position where you're trying to figure out if someone really KNOWS, or if instead they're just "smart" or know a lot, you can easily determine this by their willingness and/or capability to admit that they know that they don't really KNOW. If you KNOW then you know what I'm talking about here. If not... Then, well, start taking a look at all the things you and everyone else doesn't know. Soon you'll discover that none of us really know much of anything. That's the first step and the first major realization on the road to really KNOWING But of course that's also our curse. It isnt easy knowing so much that you've reached the point where you know how much we still dont know. It makes social interactions with nearly everyone entirely unbearable. Your choice again is to pretend how little you know all the time in order to fit in, ie "playing dumb," or being a flat out recluse or loner. But at least we know it. There's a wee bit of solace and refuge in that.

And therein lies the challenge. Just by your very nature, even if you've perfected the art of dumbing down in order to fit in, you still may get attacked. It's as if people can vibrationally pick up on the fact that you arent nearly as dumb and normal as you pretend to be. And to the other strategy, just being yourself and boldly going through life hoping that over the years you will meet others at the same level as you, even when you confess to not knowing things you dont know, you still get accused of always thinking you know it all.

It's easy to start playing dumb. To fit in wirh the bulk of the people you encounter on the road through life. But I recommened resisting that temptation with everything you've got. The same goes for going the loner route. History is filled with stories of loner geniuses. But I've never fancied that kind of life very appealing myself. I love people too much. I think i love people as much as I love knowing things. In fact i know i do. Which means I spent the first quarter of my life being ridiculed for being a brainiac or nerd, the second quarter of my life playing dumb to fit in, and luckily over the last few years I've managed to find that ever so slight nearly invisible line between being a someone who knows a lot and being a socially acceptable and appealing fellow human. I consider myself very lucky for this.

Of course I still get attacked now and then and accused of being a know it all, or someone who "always has to be right all the time." But at this point I'm too aware of how utterly meaningless it is to care about such things. Knowing that you know you know is simply too valuable a commodity for oneself and the world around us to care more about fitting in than knowing a lot. In the end you and most others around you will begin to recognize how much more important you are to the world because of what you know versus how well you fit in. In fact as "Mr. Tipping Point" himself pointed out in his last book "Outliers", if you've got what it takes to endure those first few decades of ridicule, there's a good chance your knowing will contribute considerably more to the world than your fitting in ever will.

The main point to always remember is that only YOU know if you really know that you know that you know. With the right amount of courage and confidence, you can either ignore or overcome the objections of others and use this gift to make the world a better place for all of us.

Happy New Year?

Saturday night or sunday morning 3AM depending on how you look at it. January 1st, 2012. Yep. Its no secret. Except maybe to folks in Hawaii. Weve finally wrestled free from the viscious grip of 2011 and in the last 3 seconds of the game we managed to dive into the endzone of 2012. Thank God. As more than one good friend family member or innocent passerby commented over the last few weeks, "2011 sucked". I tend to agree. So I'm more than a little happy relieved and excited to leave that number behind once and for all. Talk about change and challenge. If 2011 offered anything, it was a lot of change and a whole hell of a lot of challenge. Let's agree to get into that some other day. It's late now and I'm tired. Besides the fact that I'm attempting to write this post in the pitch black of night on a tiny ass little iPhone keyboard.

I've been married now for almost two years. I've got friends who've been married for twenty. So I get that two years isn't a long time for such things. But long time friends fans and readers know that the ongoing saga that recounts the romance between me and Princess Little Tree has been a long slow steady natural and very organic evolution. It started with a bang. An impossible love at first sight -- nearly ten years ago. And slowly over time it eventually evolved into one of the most super-natural and magical Hollywood ending like weddings I've ever had the priveledge to be a part of. The fact that it was my wedding made it that much more incredible.

I'd just about given up on "finding the One" when I realized I already had. Princess Little Tree had always been there. Right under my nose all along. Sometimes at the forefront of my wild life. And at other times more in the background. But always an active and willing character in the never ending "Adventures of Fishy" (that's me btw for new readers; and it also happens to be the title of the series of novels which a very small part of you are now reading).

Marriage is a rocky road. I don't lie anymore. It's too damn hard to get away with both literally and karmically. So you won't ever hear me utter the words "marriage is easy." But one good thing I have discovered about marriage is this: if you committ to your committment, such as the sentiments you expressed in your wedding vows when everything was all hot sex and fireworks, and you're willing to not only allow your partner to change as they see fit, but also change along with them, marriage offers an amazing array of benefits that very few other things in life seem to. I've done just about everything a human being should be allowed to in my short life thus far and more even. In that i am very very blessed. Or just really damn lucky. And I've gotta admit, marrying the fairest purest kindest most beautiful girl in all the world has so far been the most rewarding experience I've ever had.

Having waited for over twenty years and making sure that I more than sowed my wild oats was the strategy as any faithful reader or friend of mine knows. I wanted no regrets when I was older. Neither did I want any midlife crisis leading to divorce as more than 55% of Americans experience. Just didn't see it in the cards for me. Besides, there was no real reason as far as I was concerned to rush into marriage. I never saw marriage as an accomplishment as a lot of middle Americans seem to, rushing into it in their early to mid twenties as if marriage and children in and of itself was some kind of goal or acheivement. Girls were plenty. And rushing into anything that lasts "forever" seemed to me at least to be a damn risky venture. So I looked at marriage as more of a "well if I ever really feel that strongly about a girl where the actual thought of marriage doesn't make me feel sick and frightened then I'll be happy to do it." But until that time if it ever arrives, I'm just as happy being single and enjoying the heck out of what singlehood has to offer.

But then along came PLT. From the moment I met her I couldn't put her away so to speak. Couldn't shake her. No matter how hard I tried. And truth be told not only was she the best friend I'd ever made in my life, she also happened to be the most kind sweet caring unique generoous neat cool sexy fun loyal and special girl I'd ever known. Once I let my guard down, after almost seven years of on again off again mini romances wirh her, I felt something with her that I'd never truly felt before: YES. I felt YES everytime I thought or prayed about marrying her. It just took me a while to realize that sometimes what we think we are looking for may not appear from the outside looking in to be what we originally plan on when we're young and idealistic to the point of living in a fantasy world as we artists tend to do for better or worse.

So I took the plunge. Princess Little Tree had waited for me her whole life. She knew from the moment she laid eyes on me that she'd never feel as much love in her heart as she did for me. She wrote to me daily in her personal diaries for seven years. Without my knowledge. And more than that she stayed my best friend through those seven years as I dated hundreds of other girls in my quest to find Mrs Right or just have a good time as a single man with an irresistably controversial reputation.

Fast forward three years and here we are. Husband and wife. Pigs do fly after all and hell has officially frozen so said Duckie, one of my formers and still a good friend since high school when she first heard the news. I was surprised how easy it was -- proposing, allowing her in all the way, letting the invisible wall come down brick by brick that sheilded my heart of hearts from anyone but myself and my God. Being married to Princess Little Tree is easy. I've got to admit it. It would be unfair to her not to. Surprisingly easy.

On the other side of the token being married in general is challenging. No matter who u marry. Surprising even more for me was the discovery that as perfect as she seemed as a friend and girlfriend PLT has her own special set of imperfections. We all do. God knows it can't be easy to be married to me. It's nearly 4am in the morning now and I'm sitting here writing in bed next to the beautiful princess who's been sleeping since 1. She'll wake up for her day sometime around 5 to 7 AM. I'll sleep till noon if she let's me. That can't be easy. I get it.

But the real point to it all for me at least is that for all the chalenges that day to day married life throws in our way, once we overcome them we find ourselves even more in love with our spouse than we were before. And I wholeheartedly mean that. It's the reason I'm writing this post. It's the major theme of the film. It's the aria of this particular opera.

For three days or more I have found myself falling more and more in love with PLT than I ever felt before. And that says a lot. As a hopeless romantic as these Diaries attest to time and time again when I fall in love I fall hard. Earth shattering hard. And yet there seems to be no bottom to hit as you fall. No limits. If you're married to the right person I assume.

Tonight we drove thirty minutes away from our own home to stay in a posh hotel in downtown Seattle, to share dinner together at a five star restaurant and attend a concert by the Seattle Symphony performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony as a way to bring in the New Year. She looked ravishing. As always. Dressed all in black. I am always so proud to be seen with her. Because Princess Little Tree is a drop dead gorgeous to look at woman when it comes to pure beauty. And yes that's a very nice thing. But it's not THE thing.

The real thing, the ultimate thing, about PLT as far as I can tell, is who she is inside. The only word that repeatedly comes to mind is "special." Like a fairy princess out of story book, she often looks and speaks and acts overtly magical or other worldly. She's happy when we do big things. Like this evening's grand adventure. But she's just as happy doing simple things. She'd never been to a symphony before. It was an honor to accompany her to her first and to observe the looks on her face throughout. She is almost never without appreciation or gratitude. And hence I am never without a longing to please her or make her happy.

After the symphony we joined a thousand others for a raucous champaign soaked dance and New Years Eve countdown. We toasted each other numerous times recounting our various new years resolutions to one another. Each and every one a shared goal. As if what is most important to either one of us is equally important to the other. Words can not do justice to what a remarkable feeling that is. To share that unity of vision with another. Each toast was puncuated with a kiss or two or three. Eventually we made our way out into the streets to head back to our hotel. She took her heels off because her feet hurt and walked back in her barefeet and stockings in 35 degree weather and smiled and laughed the whole way.

You see, when you are lucky enough to find yourself married to a girl like that, a real live in the flesh princess, there is no end to how much love you can feel for her. It is boundless. So yes, indeed, so far it has been a very happy new year. But alas the new year is only four hours old. Something tells me that this new year has the potential to offer more incredible opportunities for all of us than any other year of our lifetimes. It's just a hunch. Call it "2012 superstition." I also see that this new year may pose more challenges for those of us striving for peace on earth and love and light than we've experienced in decades. It's in the air. A new Renaissance is just around the bend. Many have been feeling it for months now.

What gives me hope, what makes me smile as I sit her writing, is that regardless of how crazy or challenging things may become as the climax of this grand battle between good and evil on earth reaches it's zenith, I've got this knowing inside that everything is going to be ok. Better than ok. True love can do that to us if we let it. I now know and understand the power of true love on a personal level. PLT has given me that. And so much more. And not even deliberatly. It wasn't a conscious decision I don't believe anyway as much as just one of rhe many benefits of allowing her into my life and allowing her to be her incredible beautiful self.

No matter how tough things get in a marriage -- and they do at times -- there is refuge in the fact that if youre married to the right person and you stick it out things will turn back around and become even better than they were before. This is an amazing phenomenon. Just one of the many that true love between two people has to offer us.

The Real Origin of Thanksgiving...

Like several other American "holidays" -- such as Columbus Day Christmas and Easter, Thanksgiving as it is celebrated today is barely recognizable when compared to the events that led to its formation many years ago. When taking the plight of the Native American people into consideration, Thanksgiving is an especially vexing and bitter pill to swallow for historians and students of fairness truth and justice studies. A human rights nightmare for a variety of complex reasons and issues, Thanksgiving poses many challenges for those who are familiar with the actual events that transpired during "the Pilgrim years".

Even today it's a challenging mission for those of us who long to participate in celebrating the noble values now associated with the newly revised national holiday and at the same time still want to honor the truth... and acknowledge the many who suffered and died through the centuries in respect to this particularly dark moment in American history.

Sometimes it may feel as if everything around us is myth and Matrix. And indeed in the end we may just discover that this is more fact than we could even imagine now at such an early stage in our evolution. This we do not yet know for certain. What we do know however is that our numbers are exponentially increasing, those who long for more fairness beauty truth art peace love liberty justice and freedom in the world. Very soon it will come and all will be well.

In that spirit, Happy Thanksgiving to all.

http://www.francesfarmersrevenge.com/stuff/archive/turkey/index.htm

The Coming Inevitable Irrelevance of Facebook

Mazzini it kinda sounds like you and ES don't quite get what's goin on. I don't use Facebook Notes. News goes to our various websites and views go to our blogs. Normally they feed Facebook. Both our profiles and our fanpages. THRU the fb notes feature. But we never actually USE Notes. Why would we? Its not our real estate as one of u insightfully pointed out. But Fb is now dismantling this system. Forcing everyone to do one of either two things: add content directly to Facebook (which is what they are requesting/suggesting we do)... OR copying and pasting our website and blog links onto our Facebook pages and profiles every single day.
Theyre trying to get people and companies to spend more time on Fb specifically and directly rather than just "feeding" facebook from our own real estate. Dig? The problem is that people are just too busy for that. Small to large companies even busier. No one (person or company) is going to sacrifice their own website or blog to dedicate more time to "work Facebook".
The truth is that the visionaries and early adapters are already migrating to Twitter like birds to the South in Winter and using Sensable to automate facebook content on a weekly basis, rendering facebook even less "real logged in time." (This comment will post 14 hours after I actually wrote it. But no one will ever know that.) Only what Godin calls "the Laggards" who are always the last to adopt new tech and are still new to Fb are excited about it and attempting to "work it". Good place to advertise, gain brand exposure and fans in order to steer those people to your own real estate. For sure. For now.
Just as rickipedia said, They got too greedy. Homogenized. Boxed inside their own shell. For some dumb reason they cant seem to see outside their own windows anymore. Monopolized as rickipedia says.
The moment they did away with boxes and tabs and that open architecture and friendliness to third party apps was the signal that they were on their way out and towards irrelevance. Like MySpace they'll stick around for awhile. Well funded and plenty of capital. So they'll keep trying to stick their heads in our fridges to see what weve got to eat; but they're relevance is shrinking. Twitter is making sure of that.
In addition, as they INCREASE their demands on users, forcing users to post content directly in rather than "feeding", and trying to get inside our mobile devices and cell phones, and email us all the time with their silly notifications, the public is entering an information overload phase and the pushback is frightening the hell out of the Zuckster.
I can't quite yet tell you EXACTLY what's going to happen or what it's going to look like, but what I'm feeling is that it will have something to do with YouTube meets Twitter meets Wordpress meets Google+ and Gmail. Especially if Google and Wordpress maintain thier open ended architecture, and Twitter continues to allow users to use various third party apps to access the service they provide. And all of this happened really fast. Literally within weeks. Why? Because people want freedom. They only want to "Occupy" where they're not allowed to. Now that's funny. But unfortunately for Facebook it's entirely true.
But hey, stay tuned because this all may change and be very five minutes ago by the time we wake up tomorrow. But to hammer the final death nail in the Fb coffin, we won't hear about this change on Facebook. We'll learn about it on Twitter. So see ya there manana. Ciao for now. Ambassador out.

The Occupy Revolution: Collateral Damage

I feel it is necessary to recount something that was spoken to me on Sunday. In of all places the food storage pantry of our church where we store all the canned goods for our "feed the homeless" program called Sharing Table. After my recent 6 week absence from nyc, a good friend passed me an arms full of canned green beans to shelve and looked me in the eyes; "I only have one thing to say about your newest activism Eddie... The more money that you all pull out of the banks in your 'Occupy movement', good people who work at those banks are losing their jobs: tellers and lower income earners who only make $20,000 to $25,000. That's who's being affected the most by your actions. You need to be aware of that." Her comment took me by surprise. Indeed we do need to be aware of this. And now we are. Something for us all to be aware of. And to ponder. I found myself disturbed. But only for a breif moment, as I recalled that BECU the WA based credit union hired over 100 new employees last week in order to meet the demand created by how many of us who transferred our money to them from Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Of course there is so much more to this story.... And together we shall cover it all in our continuing dialogues. But at the least let us remember that where we are presently in our various 'Occupy Revolution' tactics there are going to be some innocents who get affected by our actions. And that surely is not our goal. To each of them we offer our apologies and hope that in the long run this will be a peaceful and successful shift for the better good for us all.
Interestingly about an hour later someone else said to me in response to this comment "Then they too will recognize that they are part of the 99% when they get laid off while the owners and officers and directors at these banks keep their jobs and continue to be paid tens of millions of dollars a year. It's sad. But it's true. And they will soon join the cause once they see that even they are not immune to the rampant greed of Wall Street and Big Banks." Perhaps I thought this is the only way for all of the 99% to truly come together. When the only people left standing are the 1%, then we can begin the transformation to a more fair and equitable system for all 100% of us.

A Blueprint for Achievement

Believe while others are doubting.
Plan while others are playing.
Study while others are sleeping.
Decide while others are delaying.
Prepare while others are daydreaming.
Begin while others are procrastinating.
Work while others are wishing.
Save while others are spending.
Listen while others are talking.
Smile while others are pouting.
Commend while others are criticizing.
Persist while others are quitting.

Too Busy to Stay Connected to Friends & Family? Remember the Five-Minute Rule

For almost all of us at this point and in this economic climate, staying in touch with our friends and family seems next to impossible. It's not that we don't love them or care. We do. No doubt about it. I don't think anyone -- no matter famous or unfamous, or how busy, callous, cynical or even jaded -- would claim that staying connected to their good friends and family is not important to them. But let's face it: it feels hard right now. Difficult. Challenging. Facebook seems to help. Twitter seems to help. Texting for sure. Emails not so much. As stated a few weeks (or perhaps even months) ago here, email has become that "best friend we just loved so much we invited to sleep over and now they won't leave." Necessary for work. But by the time we're done with how much email we need to read, address and reply to for "work related issues," the last thing we want to do when we get home is sit down and do more email for friends or family related issues. Especially if it's "just to say hello." Unless someone is just absolutely rich as hell and wealthy to no end and therefore never needs to use email for "work," email now is just as challenging to keep up with as anything else in our lives. Think laundry, dry cleaning, making dinner for the family or mowing the lawn for that matter. What was once a fun novelty has now turned into a verifiably challenging and time consuming chore or task.

Me? I'm still feeling the "texting thing" is the most private, personal, efficient and fastest way to shoot out some love to my friends and family.. But I've got plenty of friends and colleagues who feel the same way about texting as I do about email. One friend of mine, The King, absolutely refuses to text me back. He likes to "book appointments to have conversations." He says he finds texting too much work when he's spent all day "talking" for work. That just makes no sense to me. But it's his world, his life. If I'm going to stay friends with him forever I'm just going to have to abide by his contradictory illogical logic. But I'm still hoping that one day he'll wake up and realize that daily texting is a hell of a lot more personally fulfilling in friendship than nothing at all.... Because honestly, I just don't have the ability to guarantee that I'll be able to have a conversation at "8:45 PM" when he wants to make these appointments. Furthermore, making an appointment to speak with a friend, as opposed to just keeping it open, feels too much like work to me.

So what DO we do to stay connected to those we love most? Besides flying into town and showing up for an annual holiday, birth, graduation or death in the family... all very rational and reliable ways to assure that we will see our loved ones at least once a year. But again, who wants to grow up only to realize that we're only going to see our friends and/or family once a year? That's not staying connected. That's fulfilling our duty. What about the rest of the year? Read on...

This is What Relentlessness Looks Like

Right this very minute, as I sit here typing, over three-hundred and fifty college and non-comm (public access etc) radio stations across the United States are listening to and playing various songs from an album entitled All Your Heroes Become Villains. The group responsible for the creation of this dark moody eclectic and conceptual work is now called Ed Hale and The Transcendence; which brings things full circle right back to where they began nine years ago when a group by the same name released their debut album entitled Rise and Shine. Rise and Shine was a utopian dream; filled with hope, faith and optimism. Ed Hale was known as The Ambassador. He sang in multiple languages and believed every positive-message that entered his mind and sprung from his heart. The world was a stage where all we need do is believe to create our lives any way we desired or preferred. For a good long while, life really appeared to operate like this.

Songs from the album began spinning on radio stations all over America and in Europe. TV shows and movies picked some up as well. Life was good. My God was it good. At least in the insulated private world that The Ambassador and company kept themselves wrapped up in. Hale had created a fortune for himself at an early age as both a musician and as an entrepreneur. Early-retired before the age of thirty, it was hard not to feel that life was good. But that was soon to change.

Answer? Using an iPad is Equivalent to Being in Hell

NOTE: I am writing this post the good old fashioned way: using a laptop. Yes I am aware of how "six-months ago" that is... but read on....

Well it was certainly a noble question, "Am I in Hell? Or just using an iPad?" One cannot be blamed for posing the question. It's an innocent and justifiable enough question. It just wasn't the right question. The right question it turns out was "Why do I feel like I am in Hell whenever I use the iPad?" And of course the answer is "Being in Hell and using an iPad are the SAME thing".

See, it all started about a week ago. I received this incredible looking device for my birthday from my even more incredible looking wife. I had been talking about getting an iPad for months. I had gotten used to the iPhone -- bear in mind if you do NOT have an iPhone that there is a VERY large learning curve to using one. iPhones do not have regular keyboards - they are virtual, not tactile; and because they are an Apple product they are just about incompatible with every known device, website, app, software in the known universe. But still... there is a feeling one gets from using an iPhone -- (scientists have actually just finished a small clinical trial that showed that using an iPhone elicits certain endorphins in the brain that are similar to the feelings we get when we are in love or being loved or being made love to by another. This is true. Look it up).

So i had gotten used to the iPhone after about a year of using it. And no, the marriage still wasn't perfect. To this day I still cannot use more than half of the applications or tools that I use on my traditional PC-based hot-rodded laptop (mind you this thing is a monster if you're a tech-geek. Custom designed and hand-built with a quad-core processor, ultra-high resolution screen, more ports than a space-shuttle, more RAM than is humanly fathomable, the most expensive video card money can buy along with the best sound card humanity can invent). So it should be fine, right? Well for the most part it is. Only problem being that it is still, alas, a laptop. In other words, it's significantly larger and heavier than an iPhone.

Seeing that my job entails hunching over some kind of "content creating" device for hours at a time, there was a real need for me to be able to invent some kind of system to still be able to create content and not do real damage to my health. My back and neck are already severely compromised due to how many hours I have hunched over this thing. A Vegas book-maker could gamble that "yours truly has spent 20 hours straight hunched over his laptop without moving except to take bathroom breaks" and win 100% of the time. Unfortunately the statement is easily true. It is the nature of how much the industry I work in has changed. The music-making industry that is. But that's another story. So... over the last few months I had begun realizing that I could do quite a bit using my iPhone. No it's not easy, and it's certainly not comfortable. But once you've hit the bed at 4AM and you've just put in an 18 hour day and you're dead tired to the point of your eyes being crossed, finishing up that "last bit of work before you wake up in 3 hours to start the process all over again" is best accomplished on a smaller device with a less trauma inducing screen than a laptop. Hence the iPhone. I could write a three page blog post in less than an hour on the iPhone. No kidding. I have mastered that virtual keyboard. But again, it just doesn't feel that comfortable, nor healthy. Not much does anymore in this high tech world. But again, that too is another story.

Am I in hell? Or just using an iPad?

My God what a mess of an invention this thing is. Pardon any spellings mistakes that you might see here. See, the problem is I am doing some clean up on my laptop and since I was just gifted with an ipad2 for my bday recently, I figured I\'d give it a spin instead of using my iPhone as I usually do for such things. The problem is that the iPad -- as my good friend Sir Richard pointed out on Facebook last week -- is great for perusing media such as books magazines and music websites I guess... But it\'s a bloody nightmare for any kind of content creation. Even

Current Screening: CINEMA VERITE

Life following art following life, The movie stars Tim Robbins and Diane Lane and is a dramatization of a documentary made back in 1971 called "An American Family" which aired on PBS for five episodes and was the very first reality TV series. Don't want to spoil it for you. Just watch it. There was something really intense and moving about watching a real life "perfect" American family implode right in front of film cameras way back in '71. Lonf before reality tv came along and made "family drama and conflict" a normal du jour form of entertainment, even when it's fake and scripted. This movie was not. No do overs. The real thing. And very sad because of it. Recommended.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Well it very well could be a daily feature; like Current Spin, Last Screening, Latest Read etc. And indeed I promise that soon it will be. But for now in leiu of just how backed up I am with this particular Post idea, I figured that rather than working my way backwards editing each and every post from the last month just to add a line or two for this latest feature addition, instead I'll start off with a great big data dump here, now, and from this point forward I'll just remember to add the "favorite things" feature to the bottom of each post. Easier that way. For me that is. And for you it's going to be a nice little bag of goodies all in one shot. God knows I owe it to you. I read the texts, comments, wall posts, emails, Facebook messages etc. And yes I listen to my voicemails so ive heard all ur voicemails. I know I owe it to ya. So here goes.

[Disclaimer: these are suggestions. I'm three steps away from that fine line between crazy-cool and just plain crazy. So use good sense and discernment. Dont spend yourself into bankruptcy. Its easy to do in a global economy where we now have access to anything and everything we could ever possibly desire. Unlike magazines, entertainment tv gossip shows, daytime and latenight talk shows, and even radio stations who claim to play "hit songs", I am NOT getting paid to pitch or promote these products. To be honest, I don't much like tv shows or magazine articles that recommend or feature products only because "promotional consideration has been given to the following products." There actually is no such thing anymore as a true unpaid honest to goodness hit song or hit tv show or a real product recommendation. It's all pay to play now. They just don't want the public to know this. They'll even use the phrase "Here's your morning sleaze" as if they're going to fill you in on some really juicy gossip, when instead what they're actually doing is just telling us "pitched stories" that they've been paid to repeat live on the radio. It's fake gossip if you will. How the hell can we trust a product if the person recommending it is being paid to do so? We can't.

And therein lies yet another example of bad-capitalism versus good-capitalism. This alone could be an entire blog post. People are busy. They don't have time to anylize whether or not a product is honestly being promoted because it's good or if it's just another thinly disguised advertisement. But here you'll never have that problem. Unless i specifically announce that it's one of the product endorsement deals Im contracted to promote. And even then ul still be safe. Because I don't do endorsement deals for products that I don't totally adore. Cool? Cool. So let's get on with it.]

Recent Favorite things:
- Spybot Search and Destroy. Best damn spyware malware virus protection on the net and it's free. Download it today.

- Origins Peace of Mind cream. Like Tiger Balm it burns. But just a little. Nice way to perk up or relax. Rub a little on your temples.

- Phillip B Chai Latte shampoo and shower gel. LOVE IT! Smells just like a chai latte but you shower with it. The smell is in incredible. Yum!

- Tetris for the iPhone. Addictive! Download at your own risk. It can be a major time waster.

- Franz Salted Caramels. Handmade in Seattle using all natural ingredients. The most delicious caramels I've ever found anywhere. They make a milk chocolate one and a dark chocolate one. Best of both worlds - have a box of each and eat them one at a time switching each time. Don't blame me if you fall in love or get addicted. They're expensive. I'm warning you now. But worth every dollar.

- Modern Family. The tv show. You don't start laughing from the moment it starts till the very last line.

- Ciao Bella Blood Orange sorbet. In the last two years I've tried every brand and every flavor on the market. Blood Orange by Ciao Bella is so damn good that it's become a ritual for me to eat a full pint every night right before bed. Incredible!

- Viinyl.com. If you're a musician you can build your own promotional page online to stream any of your songs along with a full screen picture, as well as provide links to ur website and social network profiles. It's easy, free, and has a nice clean simple look to it.

- Sunday morning news shows: Face the Nation, Meet the Press, McGlaughlin Group, and Chris Matthews. Unlike CNN these shows aren't trying to turn their news anchors into celebrities. They're real journalists having real conversations. CNN, Fox, and MSNBC all have a partisan agendas, as well as a thirst for fame, and thus what you get is Anderson Cooper playing clips of himself giggling over and over again. Or even worse (cud it get worse than that?) very slanted and spun puff pieces disguised as news whose sole mission is to convince you to lean far left or far right. Neither side is one-hundred percent right one-hundred percent of the time. Big deception, and a big waste of time.

- CNN now has Piers Morgan. And I must say that compared to "Uncle Larry" King that is, Piers actually studies his guests before the show airs and asks real honest and sometimes tough questions. So far so good. Not bad Piers. Just please don't get lazy and stop. We respect you.

- X-Factor USA. Simon's new mutli-million dollar alternative to American Idol has more real talent in Season 1 than Idol had in ten Seasons. It's great to see Simon and Paula again. And LA Reid is a REAL music biz maven. Allegedly each show costs 3.3 million dollars to produce. And it looks that way. But most of all it doesn't come off like a high school talent show like Idol does. It's totally Pro. Music lovers or musicians will love it. Because you always learn something from it. From the importance of song choice to how essential it is to get a stylist and always look good if you're showcasing your talent in a public forum.

- Twitter. Yep it's old news. To some. To millions of others it's a new phenom and the reason to like it is because unlike Facebook where you're just bombarded by irrelevent updates and pix by the loudest friends with the least amount of self control, Twitter allows you to choose what you read and what you talk about. You may not get that aw-shucks homey vibe that Facebook offers, but the potential for intelligent conversation about subjects you actually care about is very high. My Twitter address is Ed_Hale@Twitter.com. Connect with me when u can.

- Bop it! The game. Just found one and boy is it fun! Talk about a time waster. The only good thing about it is that playing it regularly helps exercise the brain to keep you sharp.

- UGGs boots and slippers. My UGGs slippers are soooo confortable. And my fur lined boots I will literally wear every day until the very last day of Winter.

- L'Occitane Cade Anti-fatigue Gel. Frankly I like L'Occitane anything! Much like Fresh, they just know how to make very clean fresh all natural and best of all uniquely scented products. So here's the deal. L'Occitane makes a ton of products. But they have a very small line of signature fragrances with accompanying products such as moisturizers gels and shampoos. IMHO their very best signature scent is from the Cade tree. It's bold woodsy spicy and masculine smelling similar almost to the smell of pine. Try their Anti-fatigue gel. It's got that increible Cade smell but it's also great for refreshing and stimulating your face when you've been working all day. It works. It regenerates.

- Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Wipes. They're just like wet wipes -- in fact they are wet wipes, but the difference is that each wipe contains 7 different anti-aging ingredients. Think moisturizer, anti-oxidants, and skin toners. You can carry a few around with you in ur breifcase or purse and always have access to some. What I like best about always having some around is that it encourages you to wash ur face more often. Which is always a good thing. Even better? A smidgeon of anti-aging ingredients besides just cleansing.

- John Varvatos Artisan Black cologne. Owning over 180 bottles of different colognes makes me a conniseur of sorts I guess, and probably a wee bit insane; but regardless of all that, John's new Artisan Black is one incredible smelling and irresistable scent. The girls love it too.

- Tommy Hilfiger's entire 2011 line. Very very unique and different. See if you can still get your hands on some still. You'll probably get a big discount.

- The iPad2. Sleek slick thin lightweight slightly mysterious; a fascinating architecture combined with the intuitive and smooth I-OS makes it quite addictive. With that said it's not easy to type on yet. And it won't work with Adobe Flash, which means you can't upload photos to the Internet because most uploaders now use some form of Flash. What this means is that if you have a blog or two or just enjoy sharing photos on Facebook you will NOT be able to do so unless you download the ipad app for that website. No app, no uploading photos with ur ipad. Def time to make nice with Adobe guys. This is a major bummer and greatly diminishes how often you are able to use your ipad. Sir Richard put it perfectly: if you're a content creator the iPad is just not good enough for you. But if you're more of a content addict you'll enjoy using the ipad rather than your computer or phone or Kindle. Ipad just blows the competition away in terms of pure tactile enjoyment.

Want more? Well worry not. Because there are hundreds more. This is just a taste. Tune in daily and you'll find this new feature towards the bottom of every post here in the Transcendence Diaies.

OccupyMyWeekend

Ed Hale at Occupy Seattle

Well there goes another weekend.
Yes. Adventures indeed. "Occupy" is spreading like a wildfire, with over 1500 different cities around the world presently being "occupied." Future generations are going to have a blast trying to figure this one out... Just this odd word. "occupy," cropping up out of nowhere... Like Sovereign or Suferegete or Abolitionist or Segregation (sorry to throw off the aliteration there) in times past. Strange foreign sounding words. But eventually we all had to learn what these words meant as we grew up and studied our history. So too will future generations; and they\\\'ll have "occupy" to add to that list. Of course that depends on what we actually accomplish with the Occupy Movement.

The Tea Party Movement will be learned and studied because it\\\'s here to stay for better or worse. And the reason it\\\'s here to stay is because it sold out to big corporate interests very quickly (see Koch Brothers, et al...) and is now less a grassroots peoples\\\' movement as it started out as and much more a sub-group or branch of a political party, the Republican political party. Strictly right wing. Strictly radical and extreme, which is what the word "Conservative" has turned into when it\\\'s used in political contexts. Strictly organized and corporate funded. As in strictly American.

There\\\'s not a chance of this happening to the Occupy Movement. And as good as that is for the movement itself and for the world, it\\\'s also one of the problems. In order to make it through Winter or just even this Fall the Occupy Movement is going to need money. Or so we assume. And without turning into something organized and corporate it may not last very long. But let\\\'s see what happens.

Right now it\\\'s a wild phenom. I\\\'ve not marched in crowds this big since the WTO, NAFTA, and Iraq protests years ago. So theres hope there. Just in size alone. There is also something happening with the Occupy Movement that we\\\'ve not seen since the anti-BushCheney Wars in \\\'03 where the whole world came together to march in solidarity against those wicked invasions of sovereign nations. Millions of human beings from all walks of life in countries all over the planet marched to protest a few men and their mission to break international laws. It was an amazing thing to witness. The worrisome issue is that the entire human population could not stop these mad men from doing exactly what they wanted to. And ten years later America is still fighting those wars.

They\\\'ve bankrupted the country AND killed hundreds of thousands of people, these wars. But we can\\\'t see we didn\\\'t try. Because we did. We just weren\\\'t successful "enough."

We\\\'re in the same situation again now. And no one can be sure if it will head anywhere... Or lead to anything. But it\\\'s good to see it happening. Wicked crimes against ordinary people have been commited all over America by large financial institutions and it\\\'s affected the entire world economy. Record profits, and requisite salaries and bonues, are being reported during a time that the entire world is calling "bad economic times," It just doesn\\\'t smell right. Smells even worse when we recognize that Wall Street occupies half the White House administration and appears to completely control the US Congress and the Senate.

The question is "how far will we the people have to go in order to initiate real change and reform that will stop these schemes cons and deceptions? Will we have to take up arms to defend ourselves and our rights not to be lied to used and consistantly deceived? Are we willing to die in our revolution the same way others have throughout history? Or will something miraculous happen and change will just begin to occur from within as more and more of the 99% begin to recognize that almost all of us are at war with a very very small group of greedy selfish heartless people?

My preference would be for the latter option. No doubt. But I\\\'d be perfectly ok with dying for the cause if it meant we had a chance of taking America back from this small cadre of greedy war mongers and bankers. It\\\'s a cause worth fighting. Therefore we OCCUPY. it\'s a cause worth getting beaten hosed pepper-sprayed shot at arrested and even dying for. That\\\'s why we KEEP OCCUPYING no matter what the governent says or does to us until the make the changes we ask them to. It\\\'s really that simple.

Faith

There is a fine line between having faith and being a fool. Faith is believing you are wealthy when you aren't quite wealthy but know you will be soon. Fools spend money as if they are wealthy when they just aren't even close to being so. I've walked the tightrope between faith and foolishness my whole life. Sometimes, one could say, I've been the perfect faithful fool.

Regardless of what anyone tells you, feeling wealthy is all in the mind. If you wake up everyday excited and optimistic and grateful for what you have, expecting great things to happen in your life, you are surely wealthy. What that bank account reads is almost entirely irrelevant. If you're living life in faith, feeling grateful for all the bounty you've got. I've spent countless afternoons at the finest cigar stores from New York to San Francisco listening to grumpy old men worth millions, sometimes even billions, bitch moan and complain about how shitty their lives are, how much they hate their ex-wife, disapprove of their children, and despise everything from the mayor of the town they live in to the US Congress. This is not wealth. And this is not living a wealthy life.

If you ever want to see how the better half lives, or just get a good education in all things finance and money, take up cigar smoking for a few months. If you're female and feel that taking up smoking cigars is too distasteful for you, then tag along with your husband, boyfriend or a good friend and force them to do it with you. They won't be sorry. Besides the fact that there are very few things as satisfying as a good handmade cigar, what most people just don't know is that the richest men in the world hang out in these very quiet and private cigar stores all over the world. Every city in America has at least two or three of them. And there isn't a poor or middle class person in there. Except maybe for the employees themselves, who are always very decent fellows. The reason for this phenomenon is simple. Cigars are expensive. Not only does it take a lot of money to smoke them regularly (I spent $85,000 on cigars in the year 2004; yes I slightly regret it now, but it also brings a smile to face and make me laugh a little) but for whatever reason, once a man begins to acquire a lot of money, he just inevitably feels an inner need to take up cigar smoking. So as with all things temporal there is a cause to this effect.

Before both of us got married, Tomcat and I used to spend every Saturday afternoon after a good long brunch hanging out at De La Concha on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan smoking cigars and talking the good talk with all the older men that frequent this landmark hotspot. On any given day we'd bump into everyone from Rudi Guiliani to Jerry Springer (not as bad a guy as his television antics imply) to Mike Tyson to Reverend Al Sharpton to Donald Trump (he loves cigars more than he loves women and only second to his love for money...). There was a small group of us, I'd say about ten to fifteen, all men, who used to frequent this establishment with such regularity that we all knew each other by our first names, exchanged gifts during the Christmas Season (yep you guessed it, either a cigar, a cigar accessory, or a bottle of fine Port or a Single Malt), and asked about one another with a relatively sincere concern if we didn't see one or the other of the group for more than one "off night" out of every single day of the week. That's how cigar smokers are. It becomes quite a habit. And quite the gentleman's club.

The real teachable moment of this hair-raising adventure story is this though: Tomcat and I used to love hanging out and listening to this one old codger named Mel bitch about everything liberal; just because he was there I guess. It was familiar, often times entertaining, and occasionally educational. (There's nothing quite as entertaining as listening to a nasty old far-right conservative bitch about how "compassionate people" make them sick. It is just such a twisted viewpoint to have that the mere shock of it entertains; much like a horror movie I suppose). Of course we also enjoyed smoking with Mel because he was so wealthy and we liked picking up the odd tip or trick for money making that he'd inevitably let loose with now and again. But I will never forget the day that old Tomcat and I heard Mel complaining about the tax he had pay on the twenty-eight million dollars that he earned that year compared to the year prior where his accountant had gotten him off with a much smaller tax burden. Now remember, this man doesn't work. He is "retired." A New York Jewish man in his late fifties who lived right smack dab in the middle of Manhattan, the most expensive real estate on planet earth. (presently $1,300 per sq. ft. if you're into real estate and curious). Tom and I still talk about this amazing moment in our memory.

And it's really Tom who deserves the credit for this observation, more than I. And the observation was this. "Fishy do you remember Mel from De La Concha?" "Yeah, that nasty old rich guy who used to smoke the Cubans?" "Yeah." "What about him?" "I'll tell you man, how can someone be that miserable all the time? Do you remember how angry and bitter that dude was?" "Yeah, I guess now that you mention it I do... I haven't thought about him in a while actually. But yeah, dude, you're right. What was wrong with that guy?" "I don't know bro... but if I had that kind of money I think I'd be happier than that." "Well, see, that's what we all think isn't it? And yet there he was. He didn't like his wife. He didn't like the mayor. He didn't like the President. He hated almost everyone who came in to the cigar store..." "I don't know why he always let us sit with him..." "Probably because we posed no threat to him. I mean we were just young guys who sat with him and didn't say much and dude honestly, we never spoke up against him, no matter what he said. You know? I mean I don't think I ever agreed with one damn thing he said. I just wanted to listen and learn from him, as far as the business kind of things he talked about, investing and all that. It was insightful at times...." "What a miserable prick he was though," Tom commented laughing..

And there it was. A perfect example of how unwealthy one can be regardless of how much money they're sitting on. And there we were, not poor by any measure, but certainly not rolling in millions. At that time in my life I was financially comfortable. In other words, I didn't "have" to work for a living. I had already done that, early in life; I was lucky I suppose. But I also worked my tail off. And I also took a lot of major risks that would scare the bejesus out of most people. So by age 30 I had reached a comfortable place financially where I didn't "need" to work to make money as much as I just "needed to work." To keep my sanity. And to satisfy my craving for accomplishment. And though I wasn't a multi-millionaire, I was happy. I was content. In that I was a much wealthier man than old Mel from the cigar store.

Of course things changed for me once Cleopatra Ecstasy took everything I owned and more right out from under me. But that's another story and has already been written about extensively in previous entries of previous years here in these same diaries. Only thing I think that can be added to that story now is that even then, even after waking up one day a wealthy man, as I had for so many years prior, to discover that I was flat ass dead broke and that it happened to me literally "overnight" and worse yet the deed was perpetrated by someone I thought I loved dearly and vice versa, someone I lived with for six years and was engaged to be married to... even after all that, I was still happy. Maybe even "happier" I sometimes think to myself. From hero to zero literally overnight to the point that at the lowest point of my "poverty stage" I found myself collecting aluminum cans to trade them in for $5 a pound. And yet all the while I was still happy. I remember my friends and family occasionally asking me "how the heck can you walk around so happy all the time with everything you've been through over the last two years?" My answer was always "I'm not quite sure. I mean, I'll tell you one thing... I can't quite describe it... but before when I used to have a lot of money, I felt a little isolated from everyone around me. As if there was something wrong with me for being so rich. And now at least I feel sort of "at one with the people."" Not many people understood what I was talking about of course... but I did. It was true. Truth was speaking. I'd trade that big bag of cans in at the local grocery store for ten to twenty bucks and man you just can't feel any closer to "the people" than that. By "the people" I mean the every-man on the street. The old ladies wheeling the little roller of grocery bags behind her on her way home from shopping. Or the cashier who used to weigh my bags of cans. No more Mr. Bigshot wondering why that cashier seemed to look so down on me when I shopped there. Nah, not me. I was no different than she was. We were united in our brokeness. And the same went for all the musicians that I'd hang out with. No more pulling up in a convertible BMW or a black limo. I became a subway guy. A bus riding guy. Just like everyone else. And in that simple change of circumstance came a profound change of my mental state.

But here's the catch in case you're now thinking about giving all your money away to a charity so you too can feel that sense of oneness with the people. That wasn't what made me happy. Hell, I hated being that poor. And after a few months of it, I realized that being one with the people isn't all it's cracked up to be. No, what really kept me happy was the fact that I had one hundred and ten percent conviction that no matter how broke I was during that period that it wasn't going to last that long. I just knew that I was destined to re-gain my financial wealth again. I blamed God for my predicament for a while there. Until a voice in my head told me that "God didn't do that to you; another human did that to you. God is the one who's providing all these generous people who have come to your rescue over the last year or two. That's God." And of course, that idea just made me even happier. I had faith in that. A strong faith. Blind faith? Maybe. But I've never met an unhappy blind person. So that label is fine with me.

So here we are. Six years after the anti-christ disguised as an innocent young femme fatale stole everything I own and I'd be a fool not to declare loudly and confidently that I've had one humdinger of a great time these past six years. I've traveled all over the world. Learned a few new languages. Made a ton of new friends. Solidified deeper connections with a ton more older friends. Created some awesome music with so many beautiful people. Married the woman of my dreams. Own a home twice the size of any I owned before. The list goes on and on. Money comes and goes as an issue. But good times never cease to appear. And I don't expect them to. I wake up everyday in expectation of good things, just an inner knowing that today is going to offer me and mine something incredible. Something to "Yippee!" about at least once or twice or three times. Today offered plenty. Yesterday too. Tomorrow won't be any different. In fact, being that it's my birthday, I'm expecting an even larger payload of good news to come my way.

Call it faith, hope, optimism... call it stupidity or foolish idealism. But if this is what being a fool feels like, I think I might just like being a fool. For it doesn't get much more ideal than this. And sure, I am very aware of the fact that my beautiful new wife and I do not currently possess the kind of money we desire or even need at present. And to that I say "baby please just try to hang on. Whatever it takes, we're gonna make it happen. I don't want you to "wait and see." I want you to "see it now." See how blessed we are. All around us, blessings. More blessings than we could possibly ever care to count. Feel how in love we are. My God are we blessed in love. Is there anything better than being blessed in love? Or being blessed to be in love? Our money will come. It always does. But love...? Well that's not something we can make happen no matter how hard we work. That's the wait and see game that can make even the richest person in the world feel miserable. But we no longer have to wait and see when it comes to love in our lives. We've got spilling out all over us from all sides. How lucky are we?

Well since I asked the question, I'll answer it. We're so darn lucky that I can guarantee you that as rich as we feel in the way of love we will soon be in the way of how much money we have. I can taste it. I hear it ringing in my ears. And I see it just behind my eyes when I close them to pray. We'll make our money Princess. There's no doubt about that. So let's enjoy this ride on the way to financial prosperity just as we did on our way to the alter. When in doubt, just close your eyes and say a little prayer. Not for money mind you. Because that's not really what you're looking for anyway. Pray for faith. Pray for our happiness. Pray for the world to become just a little bit safer and a little bit kinder and a little bit gentler. Have faith in it. All of it. If you do that, I promise you that no matter how much money we have or don't have on any one day or another, we'll have something much more valuable than all the money in the world. We'll have happiness. As we always have. Ever since we first laid eyes on each other. Is there any happier memory that either of us can recollect than that moment? And how big a part did money play in that? Exactly. It didn't. And truth be told, it shouldn't. Because our happiness didn't come from money. It wasn't dependent on money. Our happiness came from our meeting one another finally. After years and years of having money and still wanting. But we're not wanting any longer are we? How could we be? When in just a few hours we're about to once again wake up in each others' arms thanking God for this incredible gift called love. We can't buy that. And we don't have to try because it's right here with us, between us, surrounding us, within us. Love. Real love. Pure love. True love. And with this much love around me, I have all the faith I need and then some. So if you need a little now and then, I understand. Just hold me a little tighter and squeeze some out for yourself. I don't mind. The universe will make more. Good night my love. And good night my friends. Things may seem a bit rocky right now. But hold strong to your faith and I promise you that we will all be the happiest wealthiest bunch of fools that the world has ever known.

I love my dog

I've heard people say this before. I love my dog. I've read it. Read about it. Seen it on tv and in movies. I've had friends who've uterred those exact words to me. I never understood it before. Before I had a dog of my own that is.
Don't get me wrong. Intellectually I got it. Dog is mans best friend and all that. And I also got how kind and obedient And loyal dogs are and how that might appeal to a certain kind of person. Besides that I also just always felt this intuitive knowing that dog people were warmer and somehow more down to earth than cat people; even though I myself was a cat person for most of my life.
Until five years ago when we picked a copper colored little fox like looking puppy out of a cage at the animal shelter. She was so scared from being abused in the first few months of her short life that she wouldn't even walk. We had to carry her everywhere. She also wouldn't look any of us in the eyes.
But all that changed eventually. Over time Penny, as she was simply called due to her color, slowly became more and more like a normal well adjusted family dog. Love is what did it. Just a lot of love. From all of us.
She's been with us now for over six years. And there isn't a day that goes by that I don't get down on the floor and wrap both my arms around her and give her a big hug. All 65 pounds of her.
Lately Penny has been sick. Not acting like herself. Turns out she has something called Pancreatitis. High blood levels of lipase. The vet says she will recover fully and heal on her own. Though each day she acts more like herself, we can tell that Penny doesn't quite feel like herself yet. So we worry a bit still. It's 3:00am in the morning here on the West Coast; which means that many east coast friends fans and family are just starting to rise and shine to get ready for their work day.
Penny isn't allowed on rhe couches or on our bed. It's just the way it is. But she spends all day following us around from room to room and at night all I have to do is say "penny c'mon and slap my hands against my hip or even just snap and up she comes to fall asleep wrapped up in a small circle that belies her large frame in her own bed down on the floor at the foot of our bed. She's been sleeping in our bedroom every night since we got her.
I've noticed that all night tonight I keep listening to her or for her just to make sure she is breathing. If she's too quiet I get up out of bed and walk over to her here in the dark and kneel down to pet her and check up on her. Past 3:00 am now and I still feel a bit concerned for her. A few minutes ago I got up out of bed to face the freezing cold of our room just to make sure she's still breathing. She made a kind of groaning or grunting sound and it was enough to assure me she's ok. But it also prompted me to attempt to make this note, despite how exhausted I feel right now, just to say "i Iove my dog." Because I do so much. More later. There are plenty of Penny stories to be shared. And those will come soon enough. But right now all I can muster the energy for is to report how wonderful it is to have her in our lives. I need to take a clue from Penny and go to sleep myself now. So sleep well Penny. We'll see you in the morning.

Crisis in Syria - WTF are we meant to do about this?

This came in recently... An all time low. Using ambulances and "healing the wounded" as a way to lure protestors in so they can capture or kill them. The question that comes to my mind as a very staunch NON-imperialist is this: Are we supposed to help the people in Syria? Or not? America I mean. We help people all over the world. This is true. Sometimes we "help" when our help has not been asked for or even desired by the people. This is also true. (see Vietnam or Korea or Iraq or Grenada or Chile or Cuba etc etc...) Most of the time it appears to be only for political or strategic gain. True again. Every now and then we've been known to help "just because we should." That's true too. And that's some good feeling stuff. The American government isn't all bad. True again. But of course there are numerous examples of the US Gov not doing a damn thing in these cases because there's just no "benefit" to the current administration's agenda. Rwanda and Somalia and Darfur are all good examples. Not to mention the whole "Blood Diamond" crisis in Northern Africa. Nor Colombia where it appears we actually made things worse. Or Mexico. Or the whole Iran-Contra Affair... (not only did the Reagan Admin command and fund Iraq to attack and take over Iran (killing 200,000 Iranians); but after seeing that Iraq wasn't going to win the war after six years, they then started secretly funding Iran too, figuring that regardless of "who won" we could then befriend that winning country and gain cheap oil in the process AND an additional security foothold in the Middle East to help us "protect Israel" -- which still to this day I just do not understand the logic of... (unless of course these people are hard-core "christian fundamentalists" and actually believe that it's "God's will to protect Israel so Jesus can appear in the sky one day..." That's some scary Shiite if you're more of a humanitarian than a religious nut) -- but of course they also got behind the wrong team in Colombia -- "the wretched Contras" -- in order to oust that country's democratically elected leader, Sandinista). Truth be told, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to America's imperialist history.  My God what a mess poor America has been in since WWII...

But let's forget about all that for a minute and just turn our attention to Syria... I'm not a techy. Nor am I much of a pure-aesthetic's kind of person -- we're all too busy at this point in today's world for that... so I am going to do what my techy-friends consider "the unthinkable". I'm going to copy and paste the content of an email into a blog. Yes it will look messy as all hell and contain tons of code that will fuck up all kinds of search engines. But honestly, compared to getting the word out, I really just couldn't care. So see the below. And let me know what you think we should do about our brothers and sisters in Syria.
Sincerely,
The Ambassador

Dear friends,

Syrian death squads are killing protesters in their hospital beds, whilst Russia arms the regime and blocks international action to end the carnage. But pressure is building in the region, and if enough of us speak out now, we could persuade Turkey and Germany to use their leverage to get Russia to stop propping up this murderous regime. Sign the urgent petition and tell everyone:

The Syrian regime has reached a new low, its death squads have begun using ambulances and hospitals to lure and kill wounded protesters. To end this carnage, we urgently need to bring global pressure on Syria's key backer and arms supplier -- Russia.

German Chancellor Merkel and Turkish President Erdogan both have strong inclinations to global leadership, and a great degree of influence in Russia. If we make a massive and public call to them to act, they will press Russian President Medvedev to stop blocking UN Security Council action on Syria.

Syria's horror hospitals are the latest in a string of unspeakable crimes against peaceful protesters. So far, Russia has faced little condemnation for its complicity in these atrocities, but we can change that. Together let's build a massive public call to Merkel and Erdogan to act and work with the Arab League to press Russian President to stop supporting Syria's brutal repression -- it will be delivered to their Foreign Ministries this week.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_horror_in_syria_a/?vl

At least 5,500 people have been killed in Syria, as many as in the entire Kosovo war. According to hospital staff and witnesses that Avaaz has spoken to, Syrian security forces have been using hospitals and Red Crescent vehicles to arrest, kill and torture dozens of pro-democracy protesters and detain doctors, blatantly defying international law.

Shamefully, two weeks ago, Russia led the United Nations Security Council in blocking global action to stop the Syrian regime's slaughter of innocents. Russia recently delivered high-powered weapons to the butchers and has given no sign it intends to stop.

But, right now, the pressure on Assad is mounting -- economic sanctions have left his army under-resourced and exhausted, and the Arab League has given him two weeks to enter negotiations with the opposition leadership. And there are two countries that can make a difference: Turkey, Syria's neighbour and emerging regional power and Germany, who is Russia's second-largest trading partner and traditional intermediary to Russia.

Both Turkey and Germany are sensitive to global opinion and vocally support the Syrian people -- and a strong push from all of us could get them to pressure Russia to stop propping up the regime. Sign the petition now and forward widely -- it will be delivered it to the Turkish and German Foreign Ministers this week:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_horror_in_syria_a/?vl

While some governments are despairing about what to do, Avaaz members are making a real difference in Syria. We've helped push through tough oil sanctions that funded Assad's crackdown -- Syrian activists have told Avaaz staff how crucial this support has been. We've broken the media blackout and worked tirelessly to document disappearances and other crimes, dismantling the regime's lies. Let's keep the flame of hope burning brightly and light the way to a peaceful, democratic Syria.

With hope,

Wissam, Stephanie, Sam, Ricken, Luis, Benjamin, Diego, Carol, Rewan and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES:

Europeans spar with Russia, China on Syria at UN (Reuters):
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/idINIndia-59902020111014

Turkey Steadfast on Syria Sanctions (Al Jazeera):
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/2011105134748573461.html

Syria Keeps Pressure On Protesters, Ignores Critics (National Public Radio):
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/16/141240546/syria-keeps-pressure-on-protesters-ignores-critics

Arab League Discusses Suspension of Syria (Wall Street Journal):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204479504576634931272379572.html

Germany Russia's second largest trading partner (German Foreign Ministry website, in German):
http://www.avaaz.org/german_foreign_ministry

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