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....

  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...

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...

blurred image of author signing books. original photo by: Cat I met a famous writer once in New York. It was at a book reading. When the event was coming to a close, I was cajoled into the 'meet and greet' line. I didn't want to queue up. That wasn't how I wanted to meet this writer. Standing in line, I was not a person. In that position I was a fanatic ; with a slight pejorative feeling to the word. It's an itchy label to wear sometimes.  One more person to make the line longer, I was part of the fan gauntlet. This is not a fair kind of meeting. For either party. At the time he had a finger injury; a break, I believe. I do clearly recall that he made a point to tell everyone not to shake his hand. For the obvious splinted reason. Feeling like a complete fool jacked up on the usual influences: caffeine, cortisol mostly; I waited for my turn to meet this renowned individual. Ugh. Be still my conflicted thoughts and feelings. When my time came to stand before the man ...

First, the good news: Human and I went to the nation's capital, not to engage with the swaths of costumed merry-making students over-running the streets, but to find out more information about another video portrait. I cannot talk even talk about it yet. Things are super exciting and we haven't even started! We are already coming up with ideas to experiment with as the work gets going.  Being in DC during the fall, I am grateful for hotel rooms that can be heated to 80f  / 26c degrees with hot water that you don't have to wait 20 minutes for. Pseudo-graffiti marks on the wall of my room won't endear a place to my heart as much as a stellar heating/ cooling system. And good wifi. But enough about hotels.  My year long illness gave me no quarter during my trip. With enough coffee and will, I  managed to walk the mall and up down, and around the Lincoln Memorial. The memorial is, oddly enough, fun and romantic, as well as inspiring and, well, heartbreaking too. peo...

Happy Halloween, biz-nich-izzles! Photo by  Karolina Grabowska  from  Pexels It's May. It's spring!  It's time to celebrate Lemuralia! Wut?  Is that a kind of lemur party? Well, no, not quite.  Before the Catholic Christians messed around with the dates- as they always seemed to do- the month of May was the time when some ancient Europeans would turn their thoughts to lemures  or the dead- the scary, unhappy dead. And how to make sure they weren't a bother to the living.  Romans, in particular, held observance for lemures on May 9th, 11th, and 13th.  May 11th just happens to be my birthday and it's an "unlucky" day according to the Romans. Which would explain so much about me? They warn against people getting married in May, but what of those born in the month? Are we screwed? For me, yes. I've been sufficiently, quietly screwed right over in so many ways through the years. Given the list of things that are wrong with my existence, I'...

Happy March everyone? It's that time when we all reflect upon Julius Caesar's wild death, palm frond crosses, and... leprechauns.  And I guess we should all take the time to think back on a whole year  of stupidity driven global pandemic. By the way - HAVE YOU DONE THAT YET?! Personally, it's been a weird start to 2021.  I was off like a bolt and then the ground fell away. I've propelled myself forward as a ghost since maybe about the middle of January. It was around mid-January when my body started telling me there was something wrong.  But it did not tell me very clearly what was wrong.  Most of my symptoms could be written off as any other thing else.  I thought I was just extra stressed out from having to meet a deadline.   Silly me. I was extra stressed because I was sick! When I found myself suffering stomach discomforts that would not go away, I knew I had to see a gastro doc.  Fluids were sent off to be tested and- To everyone's 's...