Then Comes the Crazy......

I was chatting with my cohort this morning and the subject of Sarah Palin, Jim Baker, Jessica Hawn, Koby Bryant, Bill Clinton.....and the long string of public indescrections...... The conversation was not about temptation but something far more sinister. There are those who superseed temptation which self-vidgelence must be at omniplay. They are those who communicate in pure binary code with the secret cheat codes from the manufacturer. They are those so aware of the raw essence of a thing that they over-ride mental conscent, walk through and even go undetected by all the normal safeguards a person might put up or fortify themselves against. If the guard on the tower is instructed to watch out for the guy with horns, he may be easily allow to pass the baby hiding a gun. That is to say that some of life's ugly things are wrapped in beautiful packages. Land mines are shiny until they explode. Our culture demands it define the ideals and what beauty resembles. With shows like "What NOT to Wear," one might easily be confronted with not being up to speed. With realization comes the struggle to yeild or defend. Our first response is always one of "but this is who I am" or "its just my style." Either direction is admirable if it is arrived at through self reality vs someone else's perception or urgings. As one of my pastors often says, "if I talk you into it, somebody else will just come along and talk you out of it." Thus it is beyond public approval to take the road less traveled. One might argue that without our minds, we might be better off; but isn't Hulu taking care of that?



I use these extreme examples because the truth is just as extreme. If you are or have a defined enemy, you easily overlook the unimagineable standing right next to you. I am not sure we can afford to always play nice; especially when the enemy has no rules.... Should the US not torture? Should we really close Guantanimo? IF we let in the little things, what do they bring with them? What eggs have been lain in their bellies? We easily reply, "ah that was just a little.....was it really? If it was, would we be having this conversation now?

Ahh...beware the little foxes.......


Why are "we" always suprised when things turn crazy? Really, nothing is forever. Whom with any common sense would mix guns, alcohol and witnesses? Isnt it amazing the things that we think we need laws for/against? WHY cant enough be enough before it gets crazy? Are we all a little psycho waiting to happen?

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M

The Odd Thursday Reflections

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Its a sunny cloudy Thursday and its gonna be an odd one. I havent blogged in some time and not for any real reason other than most thoughts have been turned inside. There are a lot of things going on. My house was hit by the Murfreesboro tornado a month ago and Allstate insurance is telling me its good hands are closed or not that open. Mother's Day coming but she's not here; so its a day I can do without now. Car repairs, recession, brothers and sisters, and the continued improvement of what isnt all require more money. In the end, its all good. I'm a survivor regardless of how much I dont want to be. In the end, I come out on top no matter how much mud and crap I have to crawl through. Sometimes it seems like a cruel joke to keep surviving. Eagles tied too close to the ground but not willing to defy fate..... Its always unfortunate when the lightning doesnt strike you directly; save the trees, I'm standing still.

!!!
M

Regeneration

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In the end is always the essence of the beginning again. I often wonder how many times the world has been restarted. Perhaps the earth must "shave it beard" every couple of hundred thousand years. The end rarely is a good thing; nor does it typically come in terms of a peaceful resolution. The end doesnt drive up in a pretty pristene car but a broken down rusted ole jalopy; long from good care and laboring every last breath from the rotation of its tires. Typically we as humans hate change and resist it with all our might. Sometimes if we embrace change, changing back can be easier. I akin that to watching parents then one day seeing yourself like them or you in them....you get my drift. Its always funny when you hear yourself and your mind clicks play to replay what you've heard them say for years. That is always followed by the thought, "you sound just like..." which is then followed by an uncomfortable grin. An apple can never hope to be a peach and grapes are restricted to vines without the opportunity to hang from trees. The universe has its natural order predestined by God or the "creator of your choice/reality."

The View from Above

You would be amazed but more likely disgused by what you see when no one thinks you are looking. The recent Dominos prank created by two kids who were "not serious" are receiving a VERY serious response from the company. WHY?, the nonchalant might ask. Its about brand trust, its about freedom of speech in a digital age where the fences are made of toilet paper. In the era of youtube, myspace, google and facebook, power of the people has never been more easily available or misuseable. At what point does ones opinion on a personal blog become a public deframation or obsenity?

When lines are drawn, there's always another drawn two feet from it. It is human to just want to rebel or go one step farther? I dont know. I do know there is always a point of too far; often not discovered until you arrive at that location. Unfortuantely with no lines, we all become mud-covered. At first that seems ok until you realize it corrupts everything around you. Beautiful white curtains dont blow in the wind when they're drenched in mud.


However do big companies have the same right to get bailed out AND turn around and raise your credit card interest rates or banking fees or electricity rates?? Really?

I heard an interesting debate about handguns in public restaurants/establishments. Part of the pro argument was that criminals dont follow the law; so law abiding citizens would have the right to defend themselves in the event of an emergency. Add a little or a lot; but lets also throw alcohol into the mix....see a pattern developing.

If I can sue for coffee being hot; eventually I can sue for alcohol being too strong, for dresses being too short, for air being too polluted, for stuffed animals named after religious figures etc. The line in the sand keeps moving......


I guess you can argue anything from the right perspective. When you look at it from above, idealism is pretty nice. When someone has your family, child, partner, mate, reputation or career hostage; those "ideals" get a free suspension from counting. Its for "those" people; not me. Funny how that works; but it keeps working. You might notice that wars are rarely fought by the person who declares them..... I'm just sayin'....


!!!
M

Tuesday Bizarre!!!

I would be the first to ask, "why make art that only says one thing?" Why paint an image that can only be viewed from one perspective? Dare I declare ART is much more; much as life....much, much, more! In league with my pensive cohort...it has been an odd Tuesday and thus demands some tribute to its passing. Today I (we) look at the beauty of the bizarres....no more words will be required.

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"THE SHIP OF FOOLS" by Hieronymus Bosch
HIERONYMUS BOSCH BIOGRAPHY
1450-1516
Hieronymus Bosch is the genius Netherlander Painter, born in 1450. Bosch's paintings combined irreverent and grotesque images, fantasy, freaks, devils, and bizarre symbolism to depict corruption, indulgence, religious hypocrisy and human greed. "The Ship of Fools" c. 1500 (above), is based on German writer Sebastian Brant's work "Das Narrenschiff"- an allegorical poem about human folly of lazy, greedy, useless people on a ship going no where and led by no one.

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by Fred Einaudi



A bizarre but fascinating blend of eroticism and war in the paintings of Hu Ming."

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To say that Salvador Dali was an amazing Spanish artist and painter, actually means to say almost nothing. He was fantastic, he was charming, he was magnificent. He belongs to one of the brightest surrealists ever.

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M

Next in line...

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If you have ever been to the local gas station at lunch time and there's a line. Typically there is someone ahead that's telling their life story to an audience that really doesn't care. It's like piped in music or being forced to listen to someone's cellphone conversation who is standing in line with you but somewhere else. (that's some major annoying; but that's another blog) Anyway, there's that feeling of relief when you realize or its obvious that you are next in line. We love being next in line!

I have five brothers and sisters and chances are that you do too. I had the privlidge of being the oldest. The reason I make that point is often in middle or low income families, things get passed down to whomever is next in line. I was looking at my father. He had three brothers and one sister. The issue: the older before him passed. The resulting thought spinoff: I guess I "theoretically" first to grave. I'm first in line; can't change the order of that. I think of those
standing in line behind me. In hopes of leaving a good example of "being in line," one's mind is forced to ponder.

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Am I excited about being next in line to the coffin?
What freaks folks out about death? the fear/question of what's next?
Am I terrified of the unknown or the next episode?
Shall we go quietly into the night/dawn or shall be fall kicking and screaming, trying to stop the inevitable?

I watched my father at his big brother's funeral wondering what he was wondering. Yes, the sadness, but then there was more behind his eyes, behind his stares, behind his silence. I feel like the realization of the coming or the its my turn next realization. I could only image the years of memories that play back through ones mind trying to bet back to the present, littered with smiles and sobs. Isn't life the short narrow corridor to the great room after the doorfacing of death?

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M

The Knowing of Knowing....

Here below the first preview clip of knowing, directed Alex Proyas and starring Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne:

I saw a good movie with my BFF this weekend. Knowing with Nicholas Cage was a bit more than I bargained for. Thank goodness it exceeded my expectations and then some. But thats not what this blog is about. Its more about the gifts we receive as mortals from somewhere else and why we think that entitles us to certain privilidges.

In this case, we will explore the gift of prophesy. If we could know the future; does that entitle us the right to be able to change it? Or do we just get to know for the sake of knowing and the concilliation that something/one is willing to communicate with us? Why do we always assume that we were chosen to change what we are allowed to see/know? There are several TV shows that walk along the lines of having this special knowledge and the added twists from trying to alter what is supposed to happen; etc. The Sarah Connor Chronicles,Medium, The Ghost Whisperer, Heroes, Life on Mars and Eli Stone, just to name a few. We won't even mention the noteables from history that are still talked about today for their predictions and ideas. Hence; if we can see it but not change it, is it really a gift or a cruel curse like the taunting of a pet outside the glass of a butcher's glass?


We are enraptured with these knowledges and the communion with the "something else." In fact, recently even the Roman Catholic Church has come out and pronounced that the existence of aliens doesn't negate the story of the Christ. Now that's an odd statement to be making....

Of course, who could truely ignore the book of Revelations! Are our
"gifts" only defined by our comforts or controls? Are gifts only good
if we like them? Does our lack of gratitude employ the universe to
pass them to someone else more grateful?

!!!
M