A Hot Bath

About an hour ago I was doing some yoga on my hot-pink yoga mat and thinking about what positions and movements to do in order to give my abs a full work out. I became really sweaty and felt I needed a shower. I went to the bathroom and decided that I actually wanted a nice hot bath.

Hot baths are excellent. I've come to realize that it ought to be the third thing you do when you have a physical ailment, not the very last thing you try. (The first thing should be a glass of water. The second thing should be a large bowl of your favorite sort of salad which should be made up of at least half green leaves.)

I find that despite the many pills available, none of them work as well on cramps as a hot bath. Although, I've love to try putting silk tassel to work on cramps, but unfortunately it doesn't grow in the middle of apartment-complex-central.

I've also found hot baths to sooth stress, any form of muscle cramp, irritated skin, infections, and so forth. It seems like the cheapest and most effective quick-fix than anyone with a bathtub has lying around.

Baths are also excellent for reflecting. I had this amazing realization while I was pondering the evils of Monsanto and other corporations in the tub. I suddenly caught the word 'evils' and paused on it. The evils of who exactly? And then it hit me...

No person is evil. The situation is what's evil.

I'm certain that the people behind creating such awful chemicals have really rough situations and traumas that have led them to make depraved and difficult choices in their lives.

On a slightly unrelated topic;

An old friend of mine asked me for a run-down on my current life. I wrote;

"I'm recently married. I'm spending most of my time writing my new health blog and researching for it. I've started an indoor edible garden including strawberries, tomatoes, thyme, sage and basil. I'm working on becoming more and more informed about everything I buy now that I fully understand that the vote doesn't happen in the poll-booth, it happens in the store. I'm thinking about going back to working on a fantasy novel I was writing a few years ago.

"I'm doing yoga daily and going out to do it about once a week. I'm having raw food potlucks at my apartment and attending them as often as I can. I'm learning how to eat as much raw and fresh produce as possible, and learning the dangers and idiocy of cooking food (or worse, microwaving it), and am about to start researching stocks this week so my husband and I can make some informed investments in some forward-thinking companies."


My Indoor Garden

And yet, I still wish I could milk more hours out of every day for more digital painting, poetry, blogging, researching, dancing, singing, making love, thinking and playing.

...

A political cartoon I found moving;



And here is an article I found to be very, very well informed and well written. Eliot Spitzer discusses how the incentives we create drive corporations to do what they do, and how it won't change if we don't change the regulations. The best read I've seen that had anything to do with the oil spill.

Bayer; Advertisements Are Misleading

I don't usually watch any advertisements since I rarely watch any television, and when I used to, I had a DVR and I recorded everything I watched and fast-forwarded through all the ads. Now, however, I watch a bit of anime on Hulu which has "limited commercial interruption."

I think this is great, in theory. I love that I can find anime streaming high-quality on the net with the small price of non-skipable advertisements. The concept is fine, and I have no argument with that in and of itself.

What bothers me is the content of these advertisements. There is one I just watched showing women touching a rhino (or perhaps an elephant; I was thinking about what the ad was saying more than I was focusing on the animal being touched) with blindfolds on. The women report guesses as to what they're touching. They suggest it might be things like a "wall" or a "pipe" and the narrator goes on to say that you should get the full picture before making judgments.

Yes. You should get the full picture - what a wonderful message. It would have been warmly received if it wasn't an advertisement for Bayer birth control. First of all, to get the whole picture, you have to consider that birth control is dangerous.



I'm not saying I don't use a form of it, but I certainly don't use Yaz, or get a shot loaded with three months worth of contraceptive stuck in my rear either. Those are just bad life choices, really and truly. (A friend in high school actually lost her period entirely and required more drugs to get it started again after using the shot, not to mention gaining twenty pounds.)

Whenever you put any drug in your body, you are putting yourself at risk. That's why it's called a 'drug' as opposed to a 'food.' No drug is 'safe' - not a single one. They all have some risks.

Now, let's talk about Bayer, as a company. Just as a quick run-down; Bayer became a big name when it became part of a conglomerate company owned by Nazis. Bayer creates a pesticide shown to be destroying bee colonies. Bayer had a drug created that they knew was contaminated with HIV, and after taking it off the market in America they turned around and sold it in other countries (the FDA was aware of this, and did nothing.)

Are you thinking to yourself, "Bayer... That sounds familiar?" You probably have a Bayer product in your home right now;


Advertising; Made To SELL, Not to Educate


Yes, they're the company that makes the Asprin you mostly likely buy. Do you really want to keep giving these murderers your money?

Imagination Fitness

"The power of imagination makes us infinite." - John Muir

"The exercise of the visualizing faculty keeps your mind in order. It attracts to you the things you need to make your life more enjoyable in an orderly way. If you train yourself in the practice of deliberately picturing your desire and carefully examining it, you will soon find your thought and desires come and proceed in more orderly procession than ever before. Having reached a state of ordered mentality, you are no longer in a constant state of mental hurry. Hurry is fear and consequently destructive." Genevieve Behrend, "Your Invisible Power"

"Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing." - Kim Rohn

The Brain

When you use your brain, little electronic signals are emitted. This has been scientifically proven. It's widely believed that these signals have a much wider effect that science can explain through electronic signals.

"It is well known that the brain is an electrochemical organ; researchers have speculated that a fully functioning brain can generate as much as 10 watts of electrical power. Other more conservative investigators calculate that if all 10 billion interconnected nerve cells discharged at one time that a single electrode placed on the human scalp would record something like five millionths to 50 millionths of a volt. If you had enough scalps hooked up you might be able to light a flashlight bulb." - The Function Of Brainwaves

Water Crystals

Although there have been some studies, such as the ones with water crystals reacting to thoughts and words. Startling pictures reveal that water reacts tremendously to our words and thoughts. Some have devoted their life's study to water, such as a man called Emoto who said;

"When I was a child, I learned from my mother that 'water is a reflection of your soul,'
"In remembering that experience, I decided to embark on this current research for and with water." - The Mystical Properties of Water

Reiki

It's widely believed by those who practice Reiki (and other forms of spiritual healing) that there is great power in one's intention. That through intention we may use our energy to heal others. I personally can attest to having a physical affliction healed through this method that was very memorable to me.

Personal Experience

I was around nine or ten at the time. I had gotten a bug bite of some sort, and hadn't had the sense to leave it alone. The first day it was perhaps the size of a dime. After two days of scratching, applying Benedryl, anti-itch creams, and using ice, it was around the size of a child's palm. After another couple of days the pain had become unbearable, as it has swollen up, and began to burn constantly. It stretched from an inch short of my wrist to an inch short of the inside of my elbow. It was disgustingly hideous to see.

I tried to stop scratching by using ice, and by wearing long-sleeve shirts, but I was having difficulty with using any will-power against the more and more overpowering urge to scratch.

I remember vividly that I was in my mother's office and I was complaining about how much it hurt. She was telling me something along the lines of how it served me right for scratching it so much, and then adding that there was nothing she could do about it.

My father walked in and inquired as to what the problem was. I showed him my arm, looking for sympathy. He asked what it was, and I told him that it had started as a bug bite nearly a week ago. He quietly took my arm between his hands and covered the entire sore area with his hand. It itched terribly as he held it, but there was also a soothing sort of feeling as well as a sensation that I can only describe as feeling like one's circulation is being sped up.

He held my arm for what felt like an interminably long time. At some point the itching stopped, but the 'rushing of blood' sensation continued to grow stronger. Then, finally, with a long exhale he released my arm. To my astonishment (and my mother's) the redness, and swelling was completely gone, and so was the itching. There was no sign whatsoever that it had ever been there.

There are two explanations for this, either of which I believe are correct, but one is more easily swallowed by people who think 'scientifically' and the other is more easily swallowed by those who think 'spiritually.' Although I personally think there is no real separation between science and spirituality except the separation that we make in our perceptions.

Spiritual Explanation

The spiritual explanation is that he used his chakra (chi, energy, light, etc) to send direction to my energy to heal. His energy sucked out the negative energy from the inflamed area, and gave direction to my body to flow the blood out of the swollen area, and to cease itching, since there was no further use in doing so.

Scientific Explanation

The scientific explanation (although not provable at this time, I'm quite sure that it could be proven given funding and time) would be that his brain transmitted imagery and information throughout his body, affecting the water in every cell of the body. The information can then be transmitted to the cells of another person's body given that their mind is relaxed and not over-riding the information with thoughts like 'this won't work' or other negative thoughts. The information flow will grow stronger and stronger as both the giver and receiver imagine that it is happening. The "imagining" is not separate from what is actually happening, since the brain-signals are what is directing the occurrence, although the imagination could be exaggerated from the actuality by quite a degree.

Thereby, the 'healer' uses the discipline of their mind and focus, and the strength of their body's energy to send the right signals to the other person.

Pay It Forward; With Imagination

Consider the implications.

Your mind has the power to influence the particles of everything your body comes into contact with. It's the same principle as "pay it forward" only with thoughts.

Self-Fulling Prophesy

When you think negative thoughts, you are creating a self-fulfilling prophesy. "How can a prophesy fullfill itself?" you ask. Let me give you a short personal example;

An ex-boyfriend of mine whom I was deeply in love with was always paranoid that I would leave him. I couldn't understand why; he had the potential to be everything I had ever wanted in a mate, but somehow he came up short via broken promises and a lack of real commitment.

He claimed I was everything he wanted in a woman, but continually proclaimed that it didn't matter what he did because I was going to leave him anyway. He said he didn't want to give up drinking and partying 'with the boys' because that would mean that when I left him he wouldn't have friends to fall back on. But this was the exact behavior that led me to leave him close to two and half years into the relationship.

It was literally his paranoia that I would leave him that caused the string of events that led to breakup. A perfect example of why fear is the enemy of love, as well as a perfect example of a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Becoming Orderly

If you want to have a life that is not only filled with material wealth, but also with the wealth of the soul and heart, you must have a strong imagination. This does not mean you need to be creative. This only means you need to take the time to visualize your future.

When you take the time to visualize something, you will see any errors in the design and automatically change them. For example, if you visualize yourself going to the beach on the morning you plan on going to the beach, and you imagine lying on your towel in the hot sun next to the hot sand, and walking through the hot sand and letting the water lap over your toes, then you won't forget the sunscreen, the towel (the extra towel for after the one you're lying on gets sandy) or the bottled water. If you imagine the wind picking up and blowing your hair you might think to bring a wrap in case it becomes windy. If you imagine the feel of the sun on your face, you'll remember your sunhat.

These visualizations organize your brain and keep your focused. Your memory improves, as well as your direction and happiness. What you imagine will be a preview of what will come to pass. As Genevieve Behrend stated, you won't be in a constant state of mental hurry when the mind is orderly. Orderliness comes with using your imagination daily in a constructive manner.

Strolling

Your day should be a mental stroll, not a sprint. The difference between people who get angry at tangled cords and people who simply find the knot, and untangle it without so much as ruffling the contours of their face, are the pace as which they think. When you slow things down and take the time to visualize where you are and contrast that with your goal, the answers become clearer and clearer.

Imagining what you don't want to have happen; bad traffic, trouble at the office, not having time for breakfast; will cause it to happen. If you think those thoughts in vivid detail each night (and/or morning), and then fear them coming to fruition... Bang! Manifestation. If you take the time to construct a mental picture of how you wish your day to begin tomorrow before you go to sleep, and visualize the best possible day first thing in the morning, then you'll find that your day goes more smoothly. You'll also find it easier to parry those unexpected glitches in the system and find ways to be productive and peaceful when held up by mundane and unchangeable things such as traffic.

Strengthening Your Imagination

When you first begin to do mini-meditations, your mind will wander quite often. This is fine, and you shouldn't let it bother you. Just try to stay present and aware of yourself and your thought patterns. Pay close attention to how one thought follows another. Pay even closer attention to how you end up thinking negative things and redirect your thoughts towards gratitude.

Gratitude

Grateful people tend to be more optimistic, a characteristic that researchers say boosts the immune system. "There are some very interesting studies linking optimism to better immune function," says Lisa Aspinwall, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Utah. - Boosting Your Health With Gratitude

Being grateful has actually been shown to boost many aspects of your health and functions of your life. When you find yourself at the crux of a serious issue, instead of dwelling, create a deep vivid image of something you're genuinely grateful for. Not something you think you ought to be grateful for, but something you are truly grateful for.

Mini-Meditations

In the art of Tantra (a yogic practice designed to increase happiness and to especially increase sexual satisfaction and spirituality in the bedroom) is often taught to include the practice of the Mini Meditation.

This is a mental practice where you take time to notice how your body feels; where are you warm, where are you cold, are you comfortable, are you stiff, do you feel you use a glass of water? And so forth.

And then, after taking a moment to notice, listen and adjust your body, then take the time to notice your mental state. Are you happy, are you feeling down, do you feel optimistic, do you feel centered, are you annoyed? And so forth.

After taking a minute to contemplate your physical well being and another full minute to contemplate your mental well being, take a third minute to visualize what you would find the most desirable. It can be what you desire right now, what you desire tomorrow, or what you desire ten years down the line.

In the course of this three-minute mini-meditation you will come closer in contact with your wants, needs and goals, and thereby automatically come closer to reaching your wants, needs and goals. By doing this three minute meditation several times a day, or even daily, you'll find you have a better and better understanding of yourself.

"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."

"Know thyself." - Socrates

"It is wisdom to know others; It is enlightenment to know one's self." - Lao-Tzu

Create A Vivid Metal Image

Imagine yourself. Don't force the image to appear any certain way. Just let it come naturally as it does. Using force will agitate the mind and distort your mental imagery. Allow your thoughts to be dream-like images. Use all of your senses.

If you're imagining the hypothetical trip to the beach as I alluded to earlier, then your imagination should include the sounds of the waves, the screeching of the birds. It should include the smell of the salty ocean water and the scent of sunscreen, deodorant and/or sweat. It should include the taste of what you will bring with you for lunch. (Hopefully a healthy raw snack!) It should include the sensation of sand in between your toes, and the feeling of the water rushing up over your feet and washing that sand away, as well as the feeling of the sun on your face and body.

Attracting Wealth

This practice will attract wealth. As your senses and imagination becomes more sharp, it becomes more real. You'll have more inspired ideas, and you'll feel inclined to act on them immediately. The right people will meet you at the right times. You'll experience what other people call 'luck.'

Things will neatly

fall

into

place.

This will happen as a direct result or organizing your mind through imagination. Use the three minute meditation whenever you have three minutes to kill in order to increase your awareness, and thereby your health, wealth, wisdom and happiness.

How To Love Your Life

An old friend from high school asked me if I was still living where I grew up. I replied;

"No, I've moved actually. I'm near San Fransisco in Northern California. I might be in Buffalo, NY for a while again sometime in the next year. It might just be for two weeks while I gather the rest of my stuff for when my fiance and I move to Boston, or it might be for six months or so while we save up some more money for the move to Boston."

(I promise I'm going somewhere with this, otherwise I wouldn't post it.) She said;

"Wow, I wish I had that much excitement in my life :(
"If I had full custody of my son (and the extra cash) we'd move south.
"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Buffalo?"

I frowned as I read this response, for several reasons. But the most unexpected reason I frowned was because I dislike when people are down on my home city. It's a negative attitude that just seems to spread and doesn't help anything. I replied;

Buffalo isn't the issue. I actually miss the city a lot.

It's all about the network of people you associate with. I just stopped talking to anyone who had 'drama' in their life. I wasn't mean about it, but I just stopped going out of my way to talk to anyone who was constantly making trouble or attracting trouble.

Then I went to meetup.com and found groups on yoga, writing, meditation, nutrition and went out and met people completely unconnected to the people I knew before and started a new life. It's the best thing I ever did for myself.

I gained a new perspective. I discovered that Buffalo is full of wonderful people. It's just that when you're hanging around people who party all weekend, smoke pot all week, steal from their friends and stab each other in the back, then you just keep meeting more of the same kind of people.

The networks of people who are kind, level-headed, educated and interesting don't generally associate with the networks of people who do drugs and party all the time. It's sad, but it's true.

Buffalo is pretty awesome when you get into the networks of college students, yogi-folk, and nutrition-driven people. Plus, there is so much to see around there that there just isn't in so many other places in the country. There are so many free festivals and events all summer long it's hard to keep up with them all, just from memory; The Infringement Festival, Taste of Buffalo, Shakespeare In The Park, Juneteenth, Alan Town Art Festival, Dance Alive put on monthly by the Blood Thirsty Vegans, Urban Epiphany yearly at the UU church, and there are more but that's just off the top of my head.

I've been on two road-trips (one for 23 days when I was 17, and one for six weeks less than a year ago) all around the US with my father. (This is expensive, but not as expensive as you'd imagine. I used couch-surfing for a lot of the places we stopped to rest on the six-week trip in February/March 2010, and both trips we stayed with several of my online friends as well as family members and spent a lot of nights sleeping in the car as well. A lot of couch-surfing hosts, family members and friends are willing to provide food, so that can cut down on expense a lot as well. That leaves the only unavoidable expense being gas for the car and any car maintenance that may need doing. If you have an old honda that's good on gas like my parents do, it's a big help.)

We saw Sedona, Arizona, we saw Atlanta, Georgia. We saw Cary and Asheville, North Carolina. We've been lost in Oregon's massive national parks (where people have died from getting lost, no kidding), and wandered through the massive corn fields of Kansas and Iowa. We've been through Texas, and Alabama, and went 'shopping' in New Orleans (I bought an awesome trench coat). We spent a couple days in South Lake Tahoe on the border of California and Nevada, a few days in Oklahoma City, and in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I'll tell you, Buffalo is an awesome city. It's not perfect, but no place is. You'll have the same problems anywhere you live if you hang out with the sort of people you and I used to hang out with back in high school.

Some of them are nice people, some of them have good intentions, some of them are intelligent; but it's just not worth it when missing money, broken beer bottles, and drunken arguing is a part of one's life. I really wish I could go back and help the better people who are still stuck in that place I used to be stuck in. I reflect on it often and am often left feeling very sad for quite a period of time.

~Raederle Phoenix

As a side note, it was during the first road trip when I was seventeen that I got so drunk I vomited all night. I was in Iowa. I have not drank since, except for a few sips of wine that didn't even get me tipsy, although they did upset my stomach a little. (2007)

I quit smoking weed around six months before the second road trip. As an ex-smoker I can testify that the drug is very enjoyable when used infrequently and when used with very good company. When random people get together who are mostly bad news to smoke together, it can be a very bad experience. I'd also like to state that I think it would be handled more responsibly if it were legalized. (2009/2010)

I stopped hanging out with my so-called high school friends mostly before I even left high-school in my Senior year. (2006)

At seventeen I had a rush of parties shortly before the first road trip because I had been feeling lonely and wanted to see if I could become popular. I became 'popular' with a large crowd of flunkies and realized that I didn't like it and started being as boring and un-fun as possible. (2007)

I started focusing on things I really care about such as art and writing, as well as love (of course) when I was eighteen and nineteen, and began to discover what my real priorities were, especially as I lost weight due to my change in diet. I became happy for the first time in my life during those years. (2008)

I took up yoga, and renewed my interest in meditation and positive thinking when I was nineteen and twenty. I started attending events with positive-thinking people. I hosted board-game parties and attending many as well. I joined a writer's group with bi-weekly meetings that renewed my interest in novel writing. I joined a Raw Food group and met a wealth of friendly, healthy and positive people. And overall, my horizons broadened and my priorities and goals became more defined. (2009)

And now, I can honestly say that I've never been more healthy in my life, that I've never been more happy in my life, and that everyone I know and communicate with is a positive light in my life. Sure, I still have days when I'm down, but generally those days are caused by eating something that doesn't agree with me - no kidding. (2010)

There are a lot of aspects of happiness. Some of them are temporary, external influences such as a death, or a pay raise. To get a lasting change in your happiness you need a lasting change in your understanding of life that results in a lasting change to your lifestyle.

If you're not happy, you have to admit that there is something wrong with the way you're living your life. You can blame it on others all you want, but there are people out there who have less than you do, who are very happy and satisfied. Why are they happy, and you're not?

One possible reason is that they recognize that being happy is the deepest meaning of life. That being becoming happy and staying that way is all they need to do.

Another possible reason that people with "less" are happier than you is because they recognize that helping others makes them happier than helping themselves.

Here are some further entries of mine that will help grow your understanding towards becoming happy (listed from very relevant, to the only somewhat relevant):

Keys To Happiness

Poisons: Things That Will Make You Miserable

Oxytocin: The Natural Chemical Reaction Creating Love

The Power of your Imagination

Changing Your Negative Habits

Drinking: It Affects More Than Your Health

The Cage You're In

The Best Activist Song Eva

To help you get your tail in gear...




"We're just fucking monkeys in shoes."

We'd be a lot happier if we just behaved like monkeys in shoes too!

So... The Bible Says Homosexuality Is A Sin... Hrm.

"The bible says that homosexuality is a sin. Clear as day; black and white in the bible."

You've heard that before, right?

Well, it's also a sin not to treat your body like a temple, and for women not to have their hair covered. In Deuteronomy, a marriage is only valid if the woman is a virgin, and she should be executed if she isn't. Anyone who commits adultery should be stoned to death. In Mark, divorce is prohibited. Homosexuality is mentioned in Leviticus 18:6: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. It is an abomination." And two verses later in Leviticus 20:13; "A man who sleeps with another man is an abomination and should be executed." Leviticus is a holiness code written over 3,000 years ago. It also includes prohibitions against round haircuts, tattoos, working on the Sabbath, wearing garments of mixed fabrics, eating pork or shellfish, getting your fortune told, and even playing with the skin of a pig. In other words; no more football.

Let's talk morality; up to date morality that makes logical sense in today's society. Let's look at the universal right; "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Everyone may choose for themselves their own morality, but I prefer to believe everyone does what they do because they, like I, just want to be happy and feel satisfied with their life.

Is it moral to judge someone because of what someone else said, or because a book told you to? I think not. "The Bible says so" is not a justification for hurting someone, talking poorly about someone, or judging someone. There is no justification for those things, ever. That person that is hurt, or talked down to is just as human as you are.

If you think they're less human than you are because they are different than you, then perhaps it's time for a good long look in the mirror. When did you become god?

---------------------------------------------------

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has rescinded ex-Gov. Tim Kaine’s order protecting gay state workers from job discrimination. This discrimination seems reasonable to people who believe that the Bible is the word of God, because the Bible says that male homosexuality is “abomination,” for which the penalty is to be “cut off from among their people.” (Leviticus 18:22 and 29).

A letter to Dr. Laura Schlessinger, who has in the past expressed similar views about homosexuality, has gone viral on the web. Although the letter—author unknown—has been around for at least ten years, and may never actually have been sent to Dr. Laura, its reasoning is worth thinking about, especially in view of Gov. McDonnell’s action and the battles about same-sex marriage. The biblical references in the letter are accurate.

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination… End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15: 19-24 The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle- room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16.Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan.

The Cage You're In

This is highly well written, and worth watching.


The Cage You're In




Large government can be bad - but then, if we minimize the government, then who has the power? The large corporations - the ones that control so many jobs and products we rely on. If we take power away from one bully, as long as there is a controllable resource to be had, another bully will seize control of it. The only answer is for us to be less controllable.

Research the companies and countries you give your money to. Your money is your real vote.


The Dirty Fucking Hippies




Are you really going to trust someone, elect someone, give your money to someone who wants to send out our people to go get killed trying to kill other people? What's wrong with you?

Use your dollars to vote for peace, small business and local economic stability. Boycott Monsanto, bp, walmart, and so forth... Those are just the obvious ones; with a few hours of research into the things you buy, I'm sure you'll find you're much happier about certain products (and will feel good when you buy them) and will find yourself motivated to find alternatives to other certain products you buy.

No Food Shall Be Grown That Monsanto Don't Own

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” - Arthur Schopenhauer

You are beautiful.

Think outside the box.

Question authority.

Remember that everyone is seeking happiness, just like you.

Love is the key to all happiness.

Remember to ask, "What the fuck?"

Legalize The 'Dangerous' Pot

"Nobody ever died because of pot alone."

That's not true. I know someone who died of cancer of the lungs who only smoked pot. They didn't even live with someone who smoked cigarettes, so that's not a possible cause.

Also, a friend once told me how their best friend quit pot because they ran over three people in their car while driving intoxicated on nothing but pot.

I was in a car accident with someone driving who made a ridiculous stupid mistake while intoxicated on nothing but pot.

And besides all of that, over time it can make it impossible to produce serotonin in the brain on your own. My first love's mother isn't able to produce serotonin in her brain without pot anymore.

"What's serotonin?"

Serotonin is the chemical that your brain creates that makes you feel happiness. That's right; pot makes you dependent on it for happiness. Sure, that does take about thirty years of smoking every day (give or take), but that doesn't change the fact that it's a serious outcome for all the "stoners" out there.

That said, I still say to make it legal.

People will do what they want, regardless. If it's legal, then cops can stop stealing pot from kids, seriously.

More importantly, then people will stop smuggling, and will be able to trade it freely, which will also be much better.

If it were legal, people would be accustomed to the idea of it, and people would be able to choose to be a casual 'once a year' or 'once a month' smoker instead of sneaking it and hanging out with the wrong sort of people in order to get their hands on it.

Pot is dangerous. Caffeine in dangerous. Alcohol is much more dangerous than either. And to be honest, the sugar, and artificial sweeteners are much more horrifying that pot could ever, ever be. You think your brain not being able to produce serotonin is bad? You think lung cancer is bad? You think memory loss is bad? Research what refined sugar or aspartame will do to you.

Fuck the FDA & Monsanto & Assorted Other Power-Hungry Corrupt Murdering Corporations

Legalize the drug already. The sheeple will be sheeple regardless of pot being legal or not. Now let's talk about something that actually matters...

Disgusting Trends

"Exxon/Mobil reported the largest profit in the history of the corporate world last year; they make hundreds of billions of dollars. Few nations have the financial resources of these multinational corporations; the dollars to buy men, women and the power over lives without accountability for the death and ruin that they leave in their wake." ~Mark Karlin

That quote really hit me. Corporations are like their own monarchies. A dictatorship; each one standing alone as it's own country with more power than the countries that call themselves countries.

It's as I said when I recorded this ages ago:



"It's time for a non-violent revolution of civil disobedience against the corporations who run the sovereign governments of the world; it's time for the resources of the planet to return to the people of the planet; it's time for democracy to flourish free of the toxic influence of greed and money concentrated in the hands of so few who care so little about the future of life and the planet." ~Mark Karlin

Yes! Stop buying Monsanto products. Go Really Raw. Stop shopping at WalMart. Say NO to chemo-'therapy'! Research. Read labels. Recycle. Revolutionize.

Novel Writing; Evil Adverbs

I wish I could still attend my Writer's Group meetings; I miss them more and more.

I once read the book, "On Writing," by Steven King. One of the most potent things the book taught me is about how 'less is more.' Each sentence and word needs to say something. If you take three paragraphs to describe something and the image is vivid, then that's great. If you spend three paragraphs describing something and the image is foggy as San Fransisco in the morning, then your writing isn't going to attract any readers.

I've found that I actually enjoy reading condensed writing better than most elaborate writing. Why is that? Perhaps it's because it's simply easier to write something good that is condensed than it is to write something good that is detailed. This may seem counter-intuitive, especially to anyone out there who hasn't ever been able to write enough to express anything, but let's look at this from the perspective of the 'evil adverb.'

Every article or book about writing I've browsed through talks about 'evil adverbs' in one way or another.

What's an adverb, and what is evil about it?

An adverb modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They can also be used to modify whole sentences and prepositional phrases. Clear as day, right?

Modify a verb:
o She walked quickly.
o They ate quietly.
Modify an adjective:
o She was incredibly beautiful.
o The tree is very old.
Modify another adverb:
o The dog ran very quickly down the street.
o Martha hugged her Grandma really tightly.
Modify a whole sentence:
o Obviously, he can’t have seen us.
Modify a prepositional phrase:
o They found the locket just under the bed.

Most adverbs are created by adding the -ly ending to an adjective.

Examples: slowly, painfully, quickly, crazily, strongly, etc.

However not all; well, never, fast, very, always, often, still, just.

Why do editors cringe when they see an adverb? Depending on the writing style (there are some exceptions - and you're not one of them) adverbs are red flags. They replace concrete descriptions or phrases with words that don’t hold real meaning.

Writing with adverbs:

The very pretty woman was terribly afraid that she wouldn't be able to escape. She slowly came to standing from her crouching position. Quietly as she could manage, she crept forward and around the bend. When she finally reached the cover of the trees, she broke into a very fast run.

Let's see if we can do better than that.

Using visuals instead of adverbs:

The beautiful young woman shook with fear as she contemplated her escape. She rose from her crouch one inch at a time, daring not to make a sound. She spent an entire minute removing each boot, and then crept forward and around the bend. On the tips of her toes she slipped through the camp, not reaching the cover of the trees until nearly night fall. Once covered with the shadows of the trees, she broke into a run.


Now it's your turn; take a piece of your writing you know needs work and try replacing every other adverb in the passage with concrete description instead.

Engagement & Wedding

June 24th 2010 at 2:24pm;

Lytenian and I got married this Monday (June 21st 2010) with a small ceremony. The reception is going to be a raw food potluck party this Sunday (June 27th 2010). Here are a couple pictures from our wedding day (quite some time after the ceremony when we were goofing around):






June 1st 2010 at 4:41pm I wrote;

Engagement Rings and/or Wedding Rings

I guess some people get engagement rings and then wedding rings, or perhaps they use the same ones for both? I'm not sure. There is even such thing as 'promise rings' as well. Whatever the case may be for other people, we've got rings, and we'll keep wearing them until we decide we want new ones, if/when we decide that we do. So I'm clueless as to whether that makes them engagement rings or wedding rings or what. Perhaps they are engagement rings as long as we're not married, and then if we don't get new ones they become wedding rings at that time? Yes, that's probably it.



Click To See Fullsize In Another Window

They were nothing expensive or fancy, but they're handcrafted, and because we selected them together they fit perfectly and we're both happy with them. We got them on Telegraph avenue in Berkley on a Saturday morning at one of the lovely stands that they set up every Saturday. I couldn't be more pleased with them.

Lytenian's ring is one of those that has a spinning layer of metal over the part of the ring that sits against his finger. He's always playing with it. It's adorable. After the Aharata workshop we attended in San Fransisco on Saturday the girlfriend of the organizer asked how long we had been married because she noticed us both playing with our rings! I was so charmed.

The Love Drug; Oxytocin

I've often thought about the concept of making war stop through giving the people involved a proper dose of love and/or sex. Creepy thing is, science is actually coming closer to realizing how to do it.

I learned about oxytocin from the Tyra Banks Show a couple years ago and was fascinated by what I learned. Oxytocin is the hormone that causes the desire to cuddle after sex. It is produced in women during labor, and nursing; naturally women contain more oxytocin than men, just like men contain more testosterone than women.

Science has now developed a nasal spray of oxytocin. Yes ladies, you can now squirt the insensitive man in your life and turn him into someone like you.

Gentlemen, if you are alarmed or thankful about this news over this nasal spray that could turn you into well, an emotional jello relative to your “normal” selves, the scientists to thank or to blame are in the University of Bonn led by Dr. René Hurlemann. They published their study in the April 7, 2010 issue of the journal Neuroscience. Their study was entitled “Oxytocin Enhances Amygdala-Dependent, Socially Reinforced Learning and Emotional Empathy in Humans” and whether it reads like it to you or not gentlemen, this study concerns you and your touchy-feely possibilities.

For quite some time now, scientists have known that oxytocin is a chemical that both men and women naturally produce that enables us to bond with each other. It has been dubbed the “love molecule,” the “trust hormone” and now, with this experiment, it gained another nickname — the “cuddle spray.”

In rats and sheep, experiments have shown that when oxytocin is blocked, female mothers reject their offspring. When injected in virgin rats, they care for pups that are not their own. It seems to be the molecular key to mothering. It makes you wonder if all the fatherless families are due to a lack of oxytocin in the male in question.

Oxytocin is present in both males and females in larger streams during the peak of lovemaking like some kind of emotional crazy-glue; although the difference in the amount between the woman and the man often leads to the woman feeling that she is in love and the man simply feeling satisfied but ready to go to sleep. I personally suspect (based on some things I've read by Markus Rothkranz and other sources) that if you're completely healthy and free of toxins that you will naturally produce much more oxytocin, regardless of your sex.



A study from 1999;

Different questionnaires, including the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems and the Adult Attachment Scale, were used to assess each woman's previous experiences with personal and close relationships. The results were significantly correlated with the recorded changes in bloodstream oxytocin levels.

Women whose oxytocin levels rose in response to massage and remembering a positive relationship reported having little difficulty setting appropriate boundaries, being alone, and trying too hard to please others. Women whose oxytocin levels fell in response to remembering a negative emotional relationship reported greater problems with experiencing anxiety in close relationships.

"It seems that having this hormone "available" during positive experiences, and not being depleted of it during negative experiences, is associated with well-being in relationships," said Turner.

In addition, women who were currently involved in a committed relationship experienced greater oxytocin increases in response to positive emotions than single women. The researchers speculate that a close, regular relationship may influence the responsiveness of the hormone, said Turner.

These preliminary findings bring up some intriguing questions, said Teresa McGuinness, MD, PhD, UCSF clinical psychiatry faculty member and co-author of the paper. Because oxytocin is released in men and women during sexual orgasm, it may be involved in adult bonding, said Turner. There is also speculation that in addition to facilitating lactation and the birthing process, the hormone facilitates the emotional bond between mother and child.

"Evolutionarily speaking, it makes sense that during pregnancy and the postpartum, both a woman's body and her mind would be stimulated to nurture her child," said Turner.

Oxytocin may also play a role in the higher levels of depression and interpersonal stress seen in women, said Turner. According to most psychiatrists, women experience depression twice as often as men and tend to be more affected by relationship difficulties. Turner and her colleagues hope that their work on oxytocin will guide future research on the psychiatric conditions of men and women.

A couple of studies in 2010;

A study was done with 48 healthy (by American standards; which are not very high) men who participated in a experiment that would reveal the effect of the Oxytocin-squirt on their expressed empathy. It was a double blind study which meant that neither the subjects nor the experimenters knew which half were given the Oxytocin or the placebo. The subjects were shown images in the form of a crying child, a girl hugging her cat, and a grieving man. Then the subjects were asked to express how much they felt for the persons in the situations shown.

The results were clear: the oxytocin effect was significant in that the men who got the oxytocin-squirt expressed more empathy than the ones who did not get squirted.

In a second experiment, men were tested in their learning where the feedback to the subjects’ answers was in the form of a facial expression. The men who got the oxytocin-squirt performed better making the scientists suspect that oxytocin really makes men more sensitive to emotional clues which are written in faces and in body language.


What's my expression say? *lol*

While the idea of men suddenly becoming entranced with chick-flicks (thereby making the term 'chick flick' moot) and crying at the thought of their kitten being run over is quite horrifying, the idea of them being able to read our body language is incredibly stimulating. Imagine if your man stopped requiring for you to spell everything out?

But ladies, before you troop to drugstores to get a lifetime-supply, you have to know that this is still in the experimental stage. Unfortunately. Feel free to have an emotional breakdown from disappointment.

Edit from November 2010: Oxytocin spray is now on the market at the whopping price of $60 an ounce (600 sprays) here. But remember that hugging, holding hands, touching in general, sex, etc. are the best ways to get your oxytocin.

Moving Forward Happily

I'm thinking of starting up a new blog for my transformation over to a 100% raw food diet. It's going to be a long journey with lots of learning and healing. Already the process is beginning in my mind, and spirit and somewhat in my body.

I've been very busy lately with launching my custom art creation business off of it's feet. I'm thinking of creating myself a messenger bag with my own artwork silk-screened onto it so that I can advertise myself without even saying anything.

My recent project has been creating Andy Pope's Music Transcription website. It's been a long, and somewhat difficult task; but I'm pleased with what it is so far and am looking forward to expanding it.

A friend from the writer's group is considering me for their band's logo and album art and someone from the Raw Food Meetup group here in the Bay Area of California wants me to design their tattoo sleeve even though he doesn't have the money for it yet.

It's a start.

Making A Huge Change

Markus's Amazing Free Raw Food Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLHf5ZMb5aU

Watch this video. It's great.

I'm going to meet this guy this Sunday. He's speaking to our Raw Food Group for free. :)

Markus's Site:
http://www.markusrothkranz.com/markus_health.html

An incredible transformation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXi0jpvxWjs&feature=player_embedded

The above link brought tears to my eyes. It really shows how HUGE the step to raw is. I'm so glad I'm doing this. Just the more I see about this lifestyle the more open my mind becomes to the possibilities, and after just a few days of eating mostly raw I feel so much more AWAKE.

Live Foods

I just watched an incredibly well-informed video. It's only ten minutes long, and it says things I've been trying to say, but have yet to have said so well.


Click this link to open the page that contains the video that I want you to watch.


Watch that video, and know what you've heard is true, well informed, and just a short overview of a tremendous volume of covered-up knowledge that the mass-media can't cover, because if they try to, they'll receive a huge lash-back from huge destructive power-hungry, money-hungry evil corporations, such as Monsanto.

Board Games & Love

The fun thing about board games is not so much the games themselves, but how much it reveals about the people you're playing with. Who is most generous? Who is most competitive? Who is willing to take chances? Who is a sore loser? Etc, etc.

While online games allow you to interact with others, it's very different to see their faces as they contemplate their moves then to see some text they happen to decide to write. Board games allow for much more real conversation. Once everybody is familiar with a game, then the players are almost using the board game just as a way to allow them all to be comfortable and have an excuse to not be too involved in the conversation. This is also a great way to correspond with people you usually wouldn't have any other reason to talk to. It's like drinking for more intelligent people (although many people do both at the same time.) But for obvious reasons, drinking has draw backs, whereas board games only have benefits.

I've spent a lot of time thinking (in the past few years) about how the brain operates and what connections we make between activities, people, emotions, memories... For every activity you do throughout your day, there is a thought process. For every emotion you feel, there is a thought process. For every person you encounter, there are multitudes of thought processes that stem from their influence . And for each of these thought processes, a part of the brain is further developed.

There are ways in which this phenomena is obvious. For example, if you work as a programmer, you're likely to be more logical than most people; most systematic. You're likely to make references to, "if that were a string of code, it would ruin the entire program," and other such analogies.

If you're an artist, then you look at everything you see as a potential painting, drawing, 3D-model... You study the way the light falls on an object, and how different textures look in different lighting. You notice if the colors surrounding you work well together.

If you're into sports or martial arts then you pay more attention to body language and what it means. You understand people through their movements more than their words. You notice if someone is off-balanced in the way they move around. You are aware of physical confidence.

If you're a writer, then when you read a book you notice writing style, grammar, and the structure of the plot. Writer's also are more likely to be able to come up with the words they want when they're having a conversation. Writer's consider if a real-life situation they are having would be good in a book, or even, more specifically, in the book they are writing.

But what about the things that are less obvious? I've noticed that people who play video games are not always good at board games. It takes a different sort of logic; a different area of the brain. (Of course this partly depends on the video games. City builders and turn-based strategy video games are in many ways similar to many board games.)

What about the impact of the words we use? In many languages having a debate is referred to as a dance in it's most literal translation. In English however, we refer to it as a battle. To "win" an argument. To "defeat" someone's point. In many languages it is to "sidestep" or to "parry" or even simply to "dance." What effect does that have on our mentality?

I've noticed that I don't get along with people who don't do at least one of the following: play games, create. You know what I mean by play games, but what do I mean by create? Some create music, others create art. Some people create novels, others create websites... All that matters is that it's a craft where it starts with an idea, and then, through skill, is turned into some form of reality.

People without a craft have less of a sense of reality. They have less respect for people's creations. Sometimes they have no respect at all. How can someone respect someone's lifetime's work when they them self have no craft of their own?

People who don't play games seem to have no sense of adventure, spontaneity... Less fun overall. Also they can be very down on gaming and make it out to be some sort of useless thing... Like it's some worthless addiction. That always bugs me, because I've learned a lot from video games and board games alike.

Some games teach you about history, and about politics and economics through the setting and game engine. Some games teach you about yourself; your own tastes, daring and intelligence. Some games teach you about the people you're playing with, through activities, trivia, questions or strategy. All in all, all games teach you something. Although I believe that games are not created equal and that some teach much more than others.

What sort of books a person reads has a huge impact on how they think as well. And the higher their awareness of the input they're receiving, the more can be gained from each book. Some people are not nearly as intelligent as you would expect for someone so well-read because so much of what they've read they didn't have any life experience to relate it to. If you find nothing to latch on to, much of it will just wash over you without ever sinking in.

One of the most profound differences that happens in life is when someone falls in love... Most unfortunately, the most life-changing part of falling in love for the first time, is the heartbreak when it doesn't work out. The great majority of people are not yet mature enough when they first experience love to have any idea what they have, or how valuable it is, and they float on through life like business as usual and end up fucking it up (like I did when I was first in love.)

I find that love-virgins are much, much more naïve and hard to deal with than sex-virgins. Which brings me to a question I've thought about for years. Can someone whose never had sex truly love someone as deeply as someone whose has sex with the person they love? Well, they certainly can love someone they have not had sex with, I experienced that once. But just as much? I guess it's really a silly question. Because love, like everything, is not a liner thing. There are different forms of love.

One reason I wonder about this is because two of my closest friends are both virgins and dating. They've been going out for well over six months, and I'm sure they say “I love you” to each other. I know they kiss and cuddle, but I also know for sure that they are not having sex. They both agree fully that they're not ready, and don't want the risk of pregnancy to even be in the realm of possibility.

But to consummate... To consummate one's love is something so very dramatic; in a good way. I've come to the conclusion that sex is nothing without an emotion behind it. Jealousy, anger, envy, fear... These can create thrilling sex. But only love creates the sort of sex that makes you feel like the world is utterly complete. Can one really feel as deep a connection without? If it is possible, then what does that imply?

Also, I wonder a lot about the differences between first love and second love. The first time you may not even be aware is the first time. You may have dubbed your previous infatuations as love without really knowing that the full effects had never been upon you. But once heartbreak happens (for whatever reason), you know. Life completely loses it's luster for a time, and in that time, you grow into an adult (a transformation much more dramatic than puberty.) So when you fall in love the second time, you know to value what you have. But is it less pure the second time? Is it stronger because you value it more highly? Is it slightly bitter because you feel it's doomed to end just like the last?

I've been in love four times now, at the time that I'm editing this. And for each of those people there was a different set of activities. Each one told me their life story in the full richness of their emotion. For each of them it was like gaining another person's lifetime of experiences. Each doubled the stories I had to tell, and the reasons I had to value love, and relationships. I desire love because I desire learning, companionship, growth, affection... The pain one feels if and when it ends is perhaps the worst torture, and yet it's so very worth it.

With so many factors that affect how we think, and what we want... Wouldn't the odds say that absolutely nobody should be compatible with anybody? Or is it the other way around? With so much to be learned at any given moment, and with so many human experiences being so universal, shouldn't anyone (given the right time and place) be compatible with anybody? Shouldn't any two people be able to love one another... if shown to each other in the right light?

South Lake Tahoe

My friend Wyatt in South Lake Tahoe has internet, and we're at his place.

I forgot how we started talking years and years ago online. But he provided us with a free hotel room last road trip. He doesn't work the Motel 6 anymore though, so we're just gonna crash at his place. Donno if we'll be leaving here tomorrow or the morning after though. Headed to Salt Lake City from here.

I'm working uploading a new batch of pictures to myspace right now. Unfortunately I'm always behind on the pictures; I'm uploading the pictures from a week or two ago at this point. I got a few good ones of Lytenian though, which I'm happy about.

South Lake Tohoe is really beautiful; lots of evergreens, and a little snow at this time of year. Beautiful trails wind through the woods. Giant pine cones litter the ground in a pretty array of browns and auburn colors.

The original theme of this trip was power spots, places of supernatural activity, haunts, ghost towns, etc. But it seems to me as though the theme has become classic rock. I've certainly been learning a lot about it, despite my lack of interest.

As a random side note, I've been working on this digital painting and have finally posted it to my deviant art. It's a complete revamp of "The Mage's Gauntlet"

A Tire & A Muffler

The conclusion from the previous entry.

We decided to turn around and go back the way we came, but when we punched into the GPS to head back to a city we had come from a long way back, it told us to take a slightly different route. We were thankful for this, because it didn't take us back through the mud we had gotten stuck in, but it became clear after a short time that the way it was taking us involved more snow.

We came to a sharp incline covered heavily in snow. My father sped up, clearly hoping to gain enough speed to rush up to the top of the incline. About half way up we stopped dead. Lytenian and I got out and tried to push, but it was no good. He reversed and went back a bit, but began to slide towards the dangerously close cliff side. I directed to steer more into the ditch on the opposite side of the road of the road; images of the car going over the edge running through my head unbidden.

My father angled the wheels towards the mountain, towards the 'harmless' ditch, and away from the disastrous fall to our right. He backed up a bit, and then tried to go forward, but when he tried to go forward it was no use. The front wheels slid, the back wheels remained in place, putting the car's front closer to the edge. I was panicked and began to yell (almost repeatedly) that he had to back up further towards the mountain. Perhaps I didn't believe that would get us up the hill at all, maybe I wanted us to get stuck in the ditch because that would be better than losing my father over the edge of the mountain.

And, if that was my desire, I got what I wanted. He backed up into the ditch. (This, of course, was after much moving around of snow, digging, salting, pushing, rocking the car, etc, on many occasions and on this occasion. We were then out of snow and my shoes were soaked through and my feet were freezing.) The car then was clearly not going forward and my father and Lytenian returned to pushing the snow around with the snow brush. (We didn't have a shovel.)

I wandered down the hill a little ways and turned away. My feet began to feel like someone was stabbing daggers into them. I was cold head to toe, but my toes in particular burned. I shivered, and looked unseeing out at the beautiful landscape. I couldn't recognize my surroundings anymore. I was inside a ball of freezing terror, unsure I'd ever leave.

Please let us get up this hill... Was all I had been thinking before, but I changed my tune then. Instead of trying to will the car to make it up the hill, I began praying for someone to come along and rescue us. I ran over our supplies in my head. We had a little to eat in the cooler and some snacks besides. We had plenty of blankets and gasoline to keep the car warm. We could wait...

Lytenian was terrified that we'd end up waiting. At one point he exclaimed, “We have to make it up this hill! How often do you think people come through here? It could be days!” He was worried he wouldn't make it to work today.

We hadn't seen anybody along that road. Not anybody at all. No houses, no cars, no signs...

I prayed, tears streaming down my face.

And then, after getting my face thoroughly wet, I felt a little silly and wiped my face and walked back to look at the 'progress.' I didn't see anything though. I remember turning around and walking back, but I don't recall seeing anything at all. Perhaps I just stared at my burning and freezing feet. Or maybe I looked at the car with my eyes out of focus. Maybe I looked at the top of the road and hoped someone would come around it. I stood there and continued to pray silently, feeling utterly small in the universe.

And then, miraculously, I heard a sound. My eyes lifted from there unknown focal point and looked expectantly at the top of the hill. A black vehicle comes around the corner. One that is clearly meant for this sort of road. Lytenian and my father stop whatever it was they were doing and then look expectantly up at them. We're quiet, clearly unable to speak as the vehicle approaches.

Two men come out. Virgil and... I can't think of the other man's name at the moment. One of them said, “In a bit of a bind, are you?” Lytenian says, “A bit, yes.”

My father presents them with our toe-rope. It's a darn-good thing we had one. They get it rigged to our car. And they pull us to the top of the hill. In the process, our muffler comes off. Turns out that it's entirely rotted out and a piece of junk anyway, but still...

We pull away and manage to not get stuck in the snow again, but the road was still rough and treacherous. It wasn't long before there is the sickening pop and then the uneven rumble that indicated a distinctly flat tire. A pot hole. Luckily we had a good spare tire (not just a donut). It was changed it due time, and we were underway again.

Incredibly, shortly before nightfall we arrived at a paved road and headed back down the coastal highway the same way we had come. I fell asleep in the car beside Lytenian and rested quite well.

Pictures and videos soon to come on my myspace.



My Father's Telling Of This Same Experience

Dirt Road & Beautiful View

So, late Friday night, nearly midnight, we departed (Lytenian, my father and I) for a weekend adventure north of Lytenian's location. I didn't realize, at the outset, how far we intended on traveling. Lytenian and I slept through the early part of the trip, and a little after dawn we woke up. We were along a coastal highway and had a marvelous view of the ocean. We stopped a few times to admire it's powerful waves.

It wasn't far into the day before the GPS directed us onto a remote dirt rode as being the 'fastest' way to a mountain of interest. (A destination we hoped to reach by nightfall.) Perhaps it needs a setting that says 'no four wheel drive' or 'car' vs being in a pick-up truck.

The winding dirt road was beautiful however. We didn't complain because of the dramatic scenery. Redwood trees rising up far, far, far above the car, and a glimpse into a forest so dense that it was completely dark when you looked deep within despite the bright sunlight. Gnarled white-barked trees covered in green moss that appeared to 'drip' from it's branches were scattered through the forest. Up and up we climbed, and still, the road remained ragged.

“Surely it will lead to a paved road soon,” we thought. We were in a national forest of sorts, and climbing the mountains, higher and higher. Over one foothill, and then onto a larger one. The road began to have more pot holes and more and more often we needed to slow down to ten miles an hour or even five miles and hour for them. The curves were often sharp and unlabeled with signs to warn us to slow down (not that we were foolish enough to go whipping around them), and there certainly wasn't any lines on the road. Thank goodness we did this in daylight.

We began to think of this mishap as a blessing because it was incredibly beautiful. We stopped for waterfalls, and springs and an overlook of a river. We climbed down rocks from the side of the road to examine some large moss-covered rocks more closely and then scaled those rocks as well. Lytenian helped me quite a bit with this adventure, even though it was (sort-of) my idea.

The coast was beautiful, the moss-covered trees and the red barks were wonderful, the rocks and the falls and river were nice as well. The road however, just kept getting worse, and the altitude just kept rising. We begin to see snow along the side of the road, to our surprise. We hadn't realized we were climbing that far up.

Now and again we'd see a little patch of snow on the road. I thought the snow intermingling with the moss-covered rocks was particularly beautiful. The road had essentially only one lane, but it didn't seem to matter since we were the only crazy people up there. We didn't see a soul on that dirt road out there.

We came across hills now and then were the trees had all been cut down. It made us quiet and sullen. It was easy to crack jokes and be merry about the dirt road when surrounded by red bark, green moss, white bark, green plants, red plants, turquoise creeks, gray and pale stones... But when surrounded by the sheer wasted forest stumps we were miserable and subdued, and it highlighted how far up and out of the way we were.

We even passed through an area where heavy machinery (clearly used for logging) was located on either side of the dirt road. The mud was so bad we had to rock the car back and forth to get through one spot. We began to feel a little worried then about how far out we were.

The inclines were often sharp, but not so much that it was troublesome... Until the snow was no longer in patches, but covering the road. At first it was only in areas with shade, and shallow enough that it didn't cause much harm. The trees looked like a postcard for Christmas. They were lovely evergreens, fifty to eighty feet tall I'd wager. Maybe taller, some of them.

The snow itself wasn't so worrisome. The dirt road alone wasn't terrible. The mountain alone was nothing new to us at all. But the three put together meant little traction, rough going, and a sheer drop to the side. It couldn't have been much further from ideal. Then, we began to worry in earnest. Surely this would end? We'd get over the peak and begin back down, wouldn't we?

We hit a patch of snow and showed no signs of moving forward. Without missing a beat I grabbed my shoes and began putting them on. Lytenian seemed a little slow on the uptake. I opened the door and climbed out over him (I had blankets piled in the backseat on the other side.) He followed shortly, and we got the car moving again. It wasn't long though before we were stuck yet again.

I had to drive us out of a couple because we needed both my father and Lytenian driving. Speaking of Lytenian, I believe he's gone to bed and is waiting for me, so I ought to join him.

So, cliff hanger: How did we get out of the mountains?

My Father's Telling Of This Same Experience

The Story's Conclusion