TMi

Spending a couple of weeks in historic Lexington VA was supposed to be like an art residency. I went with the idea that   I would help paint a mural in a university gallery, and perhaps focus on making some art of my own. None of this happened.   In a tiny town where there is nothing much to do, my person chose to prioritize healing. My body had been quietly collapsing into itself the whole during my sickness so while I had this time, I wrestled with my joints and bones; fought the muscles, tendons, and that blasted thing called fascia. My back hurt often, but I know I am even stronger for the effort. I do stand up straighter. (My kyphosis laughs as I type that.) I could not focus enough to really create anything. My mind was also busy doing its own messy, inexplicable healing just for being in the rural east again- almost like being home. Some crying happened.   I saw a lot of deer and met some lovely human people. I reunited with my brother Mike....

You know you are in tune with something in the universe when- on a whim- you call your new journal book for the year Lilac Viper and then see that lilacs are featured in a new (but not so great) Nosferatu movie that keeps making itself known in my social media feeds. I connect. It connects...  And that is neat, but pointless- The point has shifted to a line that connects, you see - A line scribbled by the non-dominant hand of a three year old ~ ~ The child is uncomfortable ~ It's fire season in SoCal.  David Lynch is dead. My human (partner) continues to paint and paint (NOW IN COLOR!) and hopes a broader population will do more than stand back and gawp the work- While we both internally scream: BUY THE WORK. BUY IT.  IF YOU LIKE IT, THEN BUY IT.  How hard is this?! FFS, guys... BUY THE ART. And neither of us are greedy for a life of excesses. We aren't anywhere near that sort of existence!  We are in need.  Is that clear enough? Is the word need confusing...

October has been a month dedicated to glitchtober on instagram. (And keeping depression at bay) A s with most communities, I've been shy to interact with glitch people.  I don't know enough about programming languages, software, or hardware... Blah blah.. listen to me and my insecurities blaaahhhh- I challenged myself this time to participate in the community. And, because I am me, I made it even less relatable to anyone!  I incorporated another thing I have been appreciating recently: acting performances by Lars Mikkelsen. Yup. I like glitch.  And, yup, I have  a professional crush on Lars Mikkelsen. Why not mash these things together?  The absurdity tickled my brain. And mine alone, it seems. For glitchtober there is a prompt given each day for artists to interpret so I am guilty of spending hours combing through Lars' work for scenes to fit each prompt. (Thank the maker for pirated materials on the internet! ☠ ) Naturally, after spending a month with his char...

exhausted, wired, dancing in a hotel room alone This is a long post. And certainly chock full of mistakes. Deal with it.  💙     I did a "wild" thing this month. I crossed the busiest international border in the world and took two flights during a global software hiccough to go to the Voices Against Cancer 605 Pop-Culture Con in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Some of the cast of the Ahsoka live-action Star Wars series were slated to appear there. George Takei would be there... It's an event to raise funds for kids with cancer...    Of all the people attending this event, however, the draw for me was Lars Mikkelsen- actor, Timothy Zahn- author, and Marc Thompson- voice animator. These three people have made and brought to life a particular Star Wars character that I have been in love with since I was roughly eleven years old. You may have heard of someone called Thrawn, perhaps? Eh, perhaps not. He's still lesser known than my other hard crush- Darth Vad...

What is the hottest thing in Mexico City anyway, huh? Well, you will disagree with me instantly I'm sure, but I am going to go out on a weird wire and say that power lines top my list for hot things in DF. They are... art. Full stop. Looking up at all the copious cables in orderly albeit often disconcerting lines only to then have your eye land hard and disbelieving on wrapped, looped, tangled masses... It does something for me in a way that is impossible to explain. It is terribly engaging, in an awfully absurd way. I wonder if the 'grid guys' have the same feelings... Certainly they can't just hate it, right? Otherwise they would be running wires in a different way, right?  What ever the logic or illogic involved, I bless them for their particular contribution to the aesthetic of the city.  I joked that I would eventually make a calendar of the sexiest power lines. Would anyone want this? Or am I the only human with such unusual tastes- and humor?

  It began with cold war Number Stations.  Because I have an interest in a wide array of things in life, I learned about number stations once upon a time.  Number stations are spots on the radio dial where operators send out information encrypted with a one-time pad cipher (or whatever) over the airwaves to be received and decoded by unknown parties for purposes unknown. This method of not-so-secret / secret communication has been going on from as far back as WW1. And is still going on.  I had this relatively useless information squirreled away in my head and I didn't think about it again until the end of 2023. Randomly, I discovered a Netherlands uni website that's set up to let you listen to all kinds of radio transmissions. And it's been amusing ever since.  Voices from around the World. Without any radio equipment of my own, I've been able to tune into voices connecting to each other from all over the globe.  CQ CQ calling CQ this is... Besides the h...

Let us skip ahead. Deeper into the darkness.   Why not? There is so much to learn.

September became October. October slipped away from me completely. I was aware of it going. The days refused to match up with the numbers assigned to them. The clocks changed. My focus was on the next moment. And the next moment. Maybe the next day I'll feel better. Maybe the next day I'll get to be a person.  I should share more. That is what a blog is for.  TMI! Over-sharing! But what is the use of trying to explain?  If you aren't in and out of neuropathic hellholes, if you have never been in one, then you will not relate. You haven't the capability. I don't expect you would even try to imagine it. I can say this- Not all my days are bad days, but all of my days are not fully functional ones. While I go on wrestling with vastly decreased sense of self-worth, here is a clip to watch. It is part of some video art about my DFSP cancer I have been working on-  Ask me questions about the clip.  Check in with me. Help me keep on going.     

san miguel adventure fun time part six of six- para concluir I have no brain power any more today so I’m going to finish up this bloglet listicle style.  ( ¿qué? ) Here are some random final thoughts, random images, and a few places worth checking out if you are ever in the neighborhood. San Miguel is a tourist trap you WANT to be in!   It is a fantastic, safe place to visit in Mexico. Coming from a much rougher part of the country, I can’t find big negative things to say. Some have tried. They come off as incredibly spoiled. At times the level of hospitality made me want to cry. We stopped into the hotel next door to check out their cafe/bakery situation. We sat up on the roof and our server would walk up several flights of stairs every 20(?) minutes to see if we needed anything!  Travel light. Passport cards alone seem acceptable for domestic fights, but don’t press your luck. If you travel in the summer, be prepared for all the sun and some rain.  I cannot stress...

san miguel adventure fun time part four of six-    recorrido The major take-aways: do your homework and take a tour or two Guided, unguided- whatever you choose get out and tour around San Miguel. If you are able to deal with cobble stones and comically narrow sidewalks, walking ultimately is the best way to see the city.   You never know what you will find when out on foot.     Within a few days we got to see several wedding parties in El Parque Benito Juarez. A place which seemed to be the epicenter of all boda -dom, of all wedding-ness. These festive events are called callejonadas . The ones at the parque would be something like this: At an appointed time people would gather at this one particular gazebo. There would be wedding party guests dressed in white clothing with small clay drinking cups hanging at their necks, a mariachi band, a man with a festive donkey bearing tequila, two sturdy people wearing the appropriate mojigangas , and at least one professi...