This is before the Big Bang, when everything overlapped everything and everything occupied the same space. There was no such thing as being next to, behind, on top of, or below another thing.The Big Bang happened. Matter expanded uniformly for a while. Then coalesced. Then became stars, and moons, and planets. A certain medium sized star,... Continue Reading →
Ithaca
My Uncle Alejandro introduced me to this poem:IthacaWhen you set out for Ithakaask that your way be long,full of adventure, full of instruction.The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,angry Poseidon - do not fear them:such as these you will never findas long as your thought is lofty, as long as a rareemotion touch your spirit and your... Continue Reading →
Issyk Kul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJch559_ibA A small taste of my new home; try not to be too jealous
The Final Day
Overcast Spring light. The neutral smell of daily washed floors and windexed windows, each the size of a Cathedral's doors. The cracked plastic chairs with white scratchy stuff leaking out of them.There's Joe. He's 74 with a ring of white hair encircling his head and poking out his ears, where a hearing aid rests."Do you... Continue Reading →
Into the Void
Sitting here on this effulgent Spring day with a cup of honeyed tea and the dogs dozing in the corner I cannot help but be calm.I have seen the Great Barrier Reef; an octopus changed colors and disappeared into a quarter sized hole. I have swam in a geyser warmed river, and walked along the... Continue Reading →
Changing Spaces
In Italian culture personal space is a foreign concept. Italian's gesticulate wildly, grab each other's hands, and use volume like a blunt object. The old joke (How do you shut up an Italian?You tie his hands behind his back)...is more true than people suspect. Italians touch their conversational partner, grabbing their arms and patting their... Continue Reading →
When you pack away your entire life you become concerned with space. Can I fit another shirt in here? Do I really need another bottle of Sriracha? Will this pouch really hold all that candy? Is folding or rolling a more effective use of available space? Space takes on a raw, new meaning. It effects... Continue Reading →
Meditation on the Berlin Wall; Or How Fucking Stupid Are We
Among the sunshine, ruins. The Berlin Wall affected me greatly. I'd known the broad strokes of the conflict, been taught the ancient fault lines cracking into the present, but seeing is believing. Seeing the stupidity laid bare brought it crashing home. For an entire century our entire planet was at war. WW1, WW2, the Cold... Continue Reading →
Secret Worlds
"Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody--no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they've got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds...Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe." - Neil GaimanI was lucky... Continue Reading →
