Watching my enchanted garden grow
(first published) Saturday, July 26, 2008 For years I've had the desire to see my tiny little fenced in backyard here at the building transformed into an enchanted garden. Each year has seen it in a different stage of evolution: a jungle (when I first bought the building, '94), weeds, dog pen, more weeds, more dogs, a couple all night fix-it-up attempts by my son, a few lame-ass half-hearted attempts by myself, and finally...this year, a small garden - primarily tomatoes.Each morning when I get up, I step out into my little fenced in backyard and water the tomatoes. I'm invested in their success because I want to have such a rich harvest that I can eat homegrown tom

End of a chapter
(first published) Wednesday, July 02, 2008 I feel like I've been preparing for some new chapter in my life. I've had this driving desire to get rid of the excess and unnecessary stuff in my physical surroundings, trying to get as essential as possible. There's little that's so sacred I can't let go of it. It helps, of course, to pass things on to someone who will appreciate it even more than I, but that's not entirely necessary nor always possible.I definitely don't want to be so arrogant that I overlook the possibility that one of these days, inevitably, the new chapter will be the one where I'm no longer here. Period. The end. Reading Bukowski through all of the p

so you want to be a (fill in the blank) writer?
(first published) Tuesday, June 03, 2008 I'm getting ready to return stuff to the library. I finished up two of Bukowski's books last night (last day of the lunar cycle) and have to pick up two new ones they're holding for me. I'll bring them home and add them to the other 13 sitting on my counter waiting to be read. I tell you, when I click into something, I'm all in, babee(!), until I've exhausted whatever it is that's bitten me. There was a dedication and poem from this returning book that I totally clicked with and wanted to record somewhere; nowhere better than here. Replace the word/idea of "writer" with anything that you are specifically drawn to/pursuing.the

Long time, no sEE
(first published) Saturday, May 24, 2008 It's interesting how I've grown attached to this blogspace over the years. I've missed spilling my guts here. I've invested a lot of time, and confided a lot of mind and emotions to this intangible space. As an extension of my collaging thread of genius, it's become a blog collage representative of a certain facet of me, one that's taken a couple years of time, investment and is, as yet, unfinished.I've enjoyed the process of transparency. As like every one of us, I only express certain aspects of myself to certain people. Here, I've been able to unveil more than I might in a face-to-face limited (especially by time) encounte

pOppies...poPPies...
(first published) Thursday, December 06, 2007 This time of year, as I stand at the cabinet mixing lemon poppyseed yogurt muffins around 4:00 (which is what I was doing today), the sun shines through the west-facing windows directly into my eyes. During warm weather months, I find the brightness irritating as I'm very light sensitive, and probably already way too warm as a result of its proximity. When it's frigging freezing out though, I find solace in its brief brilliance.I spent the better part of the day mixing up my latest potion, Peace of Mind, a winter blend of essential oils for eliminating pathogens - airborne as well as on surfaces like doorknobs - fortifyi