God is their co-pilot

Jesus is Lord in New Zealand. I can definitely understand this kind of religious experience. One time, when I was coming back from a road trip to Texas, it began to rain really hard. Then one of those big ol' clouds started bearing down on the vast, flat stretch of Illinois landscape. The combination of Little House (the books, not the TV show) cyclone imagery and my grandmother's indoctrination from my childhood suddenly overwhelmed me, and I found myself calling out to Jesus. In my case, the Lord guided me safely toward an exit ramp and deposited me at a Denny's restaurant, where I ate an omelette and hashbrowns with tabasco sauce and ketchup.
I believe it was near Bloomington.

Now, watch a really good dance teacher

having a funny kind of conversation with a horn player!
Her CD of Greek, Bulgarian, Rom dances is the one that is most often played in my car these days.

Other films & such

The Full Monty (by myself in the Egyptian Theatre, the first Friday after I'd moved to Seattle) and Shopping For Fangs (alone at the Asian American film festival, where some older guy tried to get me to go out for coffee with him, and told me that he'd read The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith during his childhood in Australia.) I think I also saw Deconstructing Harry and I know I saw Kundun with friend(s?) Memory fades a bit. Speaking of film and video, I enjoy watching Gwen Stefani these days. Ever since one of my writing friends told us to watch Wind It Up.
I think she is actually kind of a storyteller. (Like that Mormon kid on American Idol.) Hey Baby, Don't Speak, Ex-Girlfriend, Simple Kind of Life, What You Waiting For. Hmmm, sucked into storytellingness.

Because...oh, why not?

Erendira. Aqui Aca Aqui Aca.
Sexy Calvin Klein Ad.
Stolen Car

What makes life more fun?

Random spontaneous moments of creative energy, with elements of light-heartedness and singing. Yet, why do we still become enmeshed in other kinds of feelings? Maybe because they don't feel so dense at first. But are they really satisfactory? I got this sort of feeling after a brief stint of TV watching last night, 'cause me and the people I watched American Idol with thought that Paula Abdul just came off as being kinda jealous of Syesha.

A few old diversions (Seattle)

for an old friend who checks this every once in a while ;-)
Peliculas: Erendira, Men With Guns, Wings of the Dove, El Mariachi, Ma Vie En Rose, Henry and June. Canciones: Mexican Moon by Concrete Blonde, Spill the Wine by War, and Naked Eye by Luscious Jackson. And also, a picture of The Sound Garden.

So feel good

Jesus is just alright with me, man! Men. Amen.

Literature evokes...spirituality? dogma? humor?

Seems like it would be cool to find and read more literature which is infused with insights about spiritual pursuits :-) Although, my preference is, it would hopefully never echo any of the apocalyptic egocentricity of the ever popular Left Behind books or Frank Peretti. Unless, perhaps, it was being humorous?

1234

Note to subconcious self: from now on, all the tires on your car are going to stay perfect and intact. 4 tire blowouts is the limit. (2 in the past 2 weeks). And, the debt on that card you are going to hand over once again to pay for yet another new tire is going to begin to decline steadily and rapidly. So, get ready. This is the new life, and is "the first day of the rest of your life."

A good novel about spices

The last novel I read was The Mistress of Spices. I pulled it out of a bag of books after I had to take my car in for some work. Finished reading it behind a library on another day (waiting for more work to be done on the car) while lying on the grass and occasionally tasting some wood sorrel (but not too much, because of the oxalic acid.) Looked at the various plants in the brush behind me and wondered if some big leafy shoots would be edible or poisonous (like rhubarb leaves.) I wonder how the movie turned out? Well, of course it looks like Hollywood took out the "older woman" part. Ah, yes, a young, attractive actress, embodiment of youthful attractiveness...

A few other wild edibles

Black locust flowers
Plantain
Wood sorrel
Honeysuckle blossoms

Weekend Socializing

That alternative to staying in and crying into the laundry basket. (Ha ha.) Go to a bowling alley, but don't bowl. Instead, step outside and make phone calls. Attempt to enter, and get kicked out of, a mysterious cafe. "If you are looking for a bar or karaoke than this place is not the place for you!" (So, then what is going on in those rooms?) Attend a porch party and observe the hostess swinging around the post, shaking some kind of maraca-ish type instrument and calling out to people on the street to come on over and have a beer. Feel slightly embarrassed because the most hip-hop looking guy invited off the street is looking rather dubiously at the guitar player who is now singing about being born in a sharecropper's shack. Nod as the girl across the porch remarks "I think we were a little uncool for them" after he and his friends depart. Sing along to various tunes, such as Cecilia, Folsom Prison Blues, Pinball Wizard, and an original love ballad, with a continuous refrain: "Manic Maybe." Beat on a turtle shell, try a few guitar chords. Watch people blow fireballs with Everclear. Lie on a big couch and admire a real velvet Elvis painting. Go out, and continue the wild edible plant hunt.

d`a`n`c`e`m`u`s`i`c

Oh, entertainment. (Of the music video variety.) In a certain mood, could I enjoy watching something quite cynical, like Henry Rollins "Liar"? Perhaps. Could it also give me a stomachache? Mmmhmm. This is a snippet from something I watched a while back: Kathak dance from Satyajit Ray's "Chess Players". Then I found other videos, such as Radha Kathak Tarana, Kathak in Varanasi and a Kathak dance class in Calcutta.

Which is funnier

Rockin' The Suburbs or Popular

Caaaaaaats

Miao