Image: Contemplation of the Divine Turtle by Cat Vibert
Perhaps we are slow to get the message, but I think the animals on this earth would like to tell us something. Especially now with this bleeding oil wound. I wonder what they would like to tell us?
In the comment section, please feel free to leave a channeled message from the animal kingdom to the humans.
Marlow and the Three Graces at Sunrise by Cat Vibert
“Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” Martin Luther King
Friends, the Haiti earthquake has taken all the blog out of me! I want to write something in regards to all of that, but the scope is just so huge that I am really quite speechless. I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch any of it on TV, it seems enough to know. I donated a little money, but it never feels like enough… My prayer is that since this tragedy has illuminated the dire needs of Haiti and its citizens, that the help they receive will have long term beneficial consequences for them in the rebuilding. Please consider making a donation to help. There are a long list of outstanding organizations that are on the ground now making a difference.
How does the picture relate? Well, it doesn’t really. Except that I would like to send a little light down that way. A little sunrise for Haiti.
©2010 Catherine Vibert
From ‘Masks’ Series, not yet for sale.
It creeps in, the guilt. You don’t even know you’re aware of it and then you are aware of it and it has overtaken you and then it is all you can think about in every item that you buy because you don’t have a job but still you need to buy because we’re supposed to and that’s how it’s done because people don’t make things anymore because they had jobs and paid other people to make things for them because it was convenient and now they have forgotten how to make things and the bosses of the people who make things got them made cheaper in China and so the people who used to make things here don’t have jobs anymore because all the jobs are in China and the people in China have jobs but they don’t pay very well and the hours are long and the conditions are terrible and the things are made badly because the company doesn’t want to spend the money because nobody has any money but here you are standing at the checkout counter with your basketful of Christmas presents that you are buying at Target because you hate Walmart and won’t go in that store but it doesn’t matter because what you are buying at Target was made in the same place as what you are buying at Walmart because stores like Target and Walmart and every other corporate store (which happen to be the only places that are hiring) sell things cheaply enough that you can afford what you think will make your children happy because you think that buying them things makes them happy even though a little voice inside your head keeps telling you that it only gets them addicted to consumerism before they know yet how to think, but you buy anyway because you don’t want to be accused of being a Grinch and for some reason that makes no logical sense you still have a credit card and its Christmas time and even though you are no longer working and about to take a job at Walmart because you need to eat and you are starting to drop your standards and you use your credit card to spend money you don’t even have to buy presents made in China that keep corporate personalities like Target and Walmart in business and give you a job so you can eat and you are fucking lucky to have a job but it still doesn’t pay enough so you still have to use a credit card which they just jacked the interest rates up to the sky and it doesn’t matter that you have never had a late payment you will always owe and now you will pay for it with your children’s future and you will do it by purchasing badly made items from China that emanate slavery from the shiny packaging on the box that can’t be recycled and may last longer than the toaster which will join it there soon enough in the bottom of the landfill filled with toxic waste from the components of the computers and other dying electronics that were all made in China but that are allowing you to read this because your life is made in China and soon you may have to move to China because at least you can go to the doctor there because you can’t here because you don’t have a job and you can’t afford insurance and they wouldn’t give it to you anyway and now you may have to use your credit card to purchase insurance because the government will force you to buy it and you can’t afford it because you only work part time at Walmart even though you have a degree as an architect and are feeling Christmas will be bleak because last year you lived in a nice house that you had no business buying but the banks made it look easy and made you think you were rich when it was all fake money and then you lost your job and the house won’t sell and you just had to walk away from it and then the bank failed but the government put them back in business with money they borrowed from China so there would still be a bank but no house and now you live in a trailer with your family and things are bleak but you still have a credit card so you buy an aluminum tree and lights from the bargain table and with your employee discount it only comes to five dollars and you can’t afford the interest on the credit card but at least your children will be excited to see that you didn’t forget Christmas and you take the tree out of the shiny box stamped ‘Made in China’ and you put it together and hang ornaments that are very expensive because you bought them when you thought you had money and saved them in a box that used to have your computer in it because you are trying to recycle and the box has the word Dell crossed off and the word X-Mas marked on it with a Sharpie which you took out of your closet that was crammed with boxes that all say Made in China and you are now singing Christmas carols with your family and admiring the shiny colors on the tree and your children are still filled with wonder because everything is full of color and shiny and they are young and do not know yet about China.
©2009 Catherine Vibert
“What do you think that meant?”
“I don’t know, probably something political.”
“Oh yeah, most likely.”
“Have you seen the woman lately?”
“No, not sure where she is these days.”
“Probably on Facebook.”
“Either that or painting.”
“I heard she’s pissing her blogger friends off because she hasn’t been blogging much lately.”
“Whatever. She came over here the other day when you were off at the barn and started talking to me about health care.”
“Really? But you’re a llama!”
“And you’re a horse, what’s your problem? Anyway, we llamas are often sought out by the humans. You know, for our legendary wisdom.”
“That’s kind of ridiculous.”
“Thanks, thanks a lot. Anyway, she was telling me about this status update that went viral on Facebook the other day. She was kind of excited about it because everyone was posting it. She said it even spread to Twitter.”
“What did it say?”
“No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and nobody should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.”
“And it actually went viral?”
“Totally. First time that ever happened according to her. I’m surprised there isn’t more news about it. But you know the media. If there’s no yelling and screaming it likely won’t get much press.”
“Maybe humans really do care!”
“Well, being a llama, I told her to keep calling and writing her representatives in Washington to demand a public option. I mean, let’s be real here!”
Hello everyone, this is Cat of Arc. Yes, I’m still here and very much in possession of Cat’s blog and her body. She really doesn’t like to give up her blog for me, but I’m the one with the swords.
On the health care thing? Oh, yes, I am still very much working in this dimension to talk to people about what is going on out there, and the general consensus is that everyone is extremely confused and very pissed off. People on all sides of the coin have gone completely bonkers and the vision that is supposed to stand as the fulcrum is being tested with a force stronger than a Cat 5 storm. I can still see the vision however, and plead with you not to give up hope, and to keep talking to people from all sides. Listen to each other! Calling each other names is simply not going to leave room for open communication! And please folks, leave your guns at home, will ya? You may claim that your gun is your second amendment right and that’s why you’re carrying that semiautomatic weapon on your belt at the town hall meeting. However, you and I both know that you are just trying to intimidate and bully. A gun at a meeting about health care is, simply put, off topic.
Alright now, please take a deep breath and cool down for a bit while we look at some images:
Morning On the Dream Field
The Llama’s RefugeThat is, unless you managed to save some of that summer bounty somehow.
Before I moved here to Asheville, I was visiting a friend and we went to see a traveling puppet show that was coming through town. The show had some anti-government messages, one of which I found to be truly delightful, “The Government won’t set you free. Chores will set you free!” Now, about having the choice between government health care and private insurance, you bet I want that choice. And I’ll sign right up for the public option, and then try hard as heck not to ever use it. To that end, I have taken on the chore of preserving my locally grown organic veggies, grown by my friends at a local CSA (Community Supported Ag), by lactic acid fermention. A process using salt and water, which not only preserves the qualities of the raw vegetables, but it turns out the organisms that congregate as a result of the process are gonna save your life! They eat all the bad stuff inside you and leave you only with good stuff. That way you won’t have to be a burden on that government health care system that we are asking for, no, demanding. So in this way, you could say I am ‘pro-life’, or ‘pro-microbe life’ otherwise known as ‘pro-biotics’. I’m sure you’ve heard the term? Preserving vegetables in this way, means you don’t have to take pro-biotic supplements.
So I came up with the motto “No Vegetable Left Behind”, (which I happen to think is terribly original), and now I have got several months worth of dinner breeding in my basement. It was hard work (only because of the sheer amount of veggies), but think how much is saved in money and time down the line! It’s an investment in your very near term future! I’m not going to tell you how to do the brining process itself, but will recommend two books at the bottom of this post if you want to learn how to do this incredibly simple and safe and healthy way to preserve raw food, using practices that go way back to Genghis Kahn. Think Sauerkraut, think KimChi. Think easy, healthy, sustainable, and delicious.
And now it’s time for some more images. The first one below is a picture of a fermenting jar, that I played with in Photoshop, keeping the vegetables as my inspiration. The second is the counter where the magic took place. Cat may get some time to play on her blog soon. I’m just wondering who is going to be the big cheese that will take it upon themselves to organize an ‘All Organisms Deserve Health Care’ march on Washington? (Said in jest, meant with all my heart.)
March to the Fermenting Pot
Fermentation Station
Announcement: The person who normally writes on this blog has had her body possessed by an entity known as Cat of Arc. Usually this entity resides in some other dimension, but occasionally is activated when lies and distortions in the world become so outrageous that something must be said. Cat of Arc is a crusader who has visions and very very lofty ideals. Cat the poet/photographer/artist et al, tried unsuccessfully to keep her off this blog, preferring not to make her blog political, but the entity has usurped it in order to communicate her vision in the broadest way possible.
Without any further ado, meet Cat of Arc, the digitial crusader:
Hello to you all. I thank you for allowing this momentary intrusion unto the sanctity of this sacred space. I promise to state my case, and then to return Cat and her blog to their rightful place in the world of the arts.
At the moment, in this country of the USA, there is a war brewing on the subject of Health Care. You may remember a few posts back, Cat the poet had a dream and posted it in the form of a poem. I gave her that dream, and I am here to translate that dream for you now.
The Bridge
By Catherine Vibert
Translation
By Cat of Arc
I stood at the sea,
Looking skyward at bridges,
Unfinished, empty
Translation: The bridges are the attempts made for the last century to initiate universal health care in this country.
No permit issued
To put supports in the sand,
They rusted away
Translation: All attempts made in the past failed.
Sand backfilled the holes,
Somehow this is a good thing,
A new day, fresh start
Translation: Sand is unstable, the fact that it has filled in the places where support once was is good because it shows the world that support is needed. The un-stability of the free market is not fulfilling the needs of the masses. Is there a critical mass to prove the need for support? It may be so…
Strung above me now
An engineering wonder
Has started anew
Translation: A new attempt which includes our capitalist system AND a public option, something that has never been tried. An attempt is being made to include everybody and offer the people choices.
How far must I dig
Beneath the unstable sands
To find bedrock?
Translation: The will to get this done is the bedrock. The lies and distortions are the unstable sands. At the current moment of writing this, I am seeing stronger currents of un-stability, and the bedrock feels farther down than I can sense.
How strong are the strands?
Cars might fall into the sea!
Paralyzing fears
Translation: These are the fears of the masses. They are fears that are being preyed upon by the same capitalist powers that have stopped all the attempts in the past. There is no goodness in what these powers are doing. They are distorting truth and saying outright lies to activate and manipulate the masses that would be fooled into fighting for their cause of greed. It is the purest form of evil and many people are being pulled into this vortex of falsehood.
Before I build it
I kneel down and pray to You,
Help me find the rock!
Translation: YOU, that’s right, YOU, the one whose eyes are passing by these words. I pray to you in the name of all that is good to take this month to become an active thorn in the side of your congress representatives and senators. One crazy visionary can’t do it alone. She needs an army of righteousness by her side.
I see the city
Shining there across the sea,
And now I must build.
Translation: Health Care Reform with a strong public option. Call your representative and your senators and go to your local town hall meeting to declare your support. We can get this done!
Go forth my fellow crusaders, and fight for what is right and good.
See these websites to arm yourselves with the actual facts:
www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/
and a purportedly unbiased site:
I appreciate you allowing me this forum to communicate my vision. I will now return this blog to its rightful owner.
—-
(Logo design and artwork by Arthur Vibert)
(Cat the poet/photographer, etc etc, will return soon to resume her normal programming.)
Often I find myself wondering, damn, why can’t we talk to them, why can’t we make them listen! There is something wrong with the way things are; the way the rain falls all at once, the urgent feel of the wind, the pounding heat from the sun.
Something about that woman across the road is different. I think maybe she can hear me. I’m just going to sit here staring at her day after day, for weeks, even months, until she gets the message. I have to make her understand that only because she has speech and is not confined to the field, she has the power to change things.
What I wouldn’t give for power like that…
Our Navajo guide was resting with his back against a tree while the students laughed and gossiped, exploring friendships and newly found low notes in their tents. Gathering a moment to myself I looked out over the plains from our high perch on the sacred mountain, and let my gaze lift up to the soft blue light still present on the western horizon and, what the heck is…
“Hey, Phil, what is that thing?” I pointed at the huge point of light hovering in the clear New Mexico sky. It was way too big to be a planet or a star.
“I’ve seen that before.” Phil knew what it was. Grabbing his binoculars from his knapsack he stepped out into the clearing and took a good long look.
“What is it?” I pleaded.
“Look,” He handed me the binoculars.
“Oh my God!” I stared for several minutes at what looked to me like a huge diamond shaped space station with bars of light that were moving in a line across its front section. It seemed to have much smaller objects flying around it but I could not tell if my eyes were playing tricks.
The kids came out of their tents and gathered to see. They passed the binoculars and as each one looked, a jaw would drop and the words, “Oh my God!” would emanate quietly from wonder filled lips. Wasted attempts to get a photograph were made and awe turned to laughter as the kids analyzed the possible meanings with jokes and giggles.
The weird thing stayed there, unmoving, for 45 minutes before retreating, turning red, and fading off into space.
_____
I wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t seen it for myself.
Back at school a couple of weeks later we all met again and I asked the kids to draw what they remembered. The image at the top was the most detailed version.
Have you ever seen anything that can’t be explained?
A bitter wind blew through the land
And screams of rage could be heard
From every corner of the sky,
Echoing throughout all of the Earth.
The ground was red from the battle, the long and endless battle,
Where neither one side, nor the other
Was heard to profess an element of understanding,
And pleas screamed would only break on ears of stone,
As each claimed that their god would reign victorious.
And there were those who loved and simply watched,
Who could see beyond the shades of skin,
And the acclamations of divine intent,
And would weep helplessly,
As they watched the ebb and flow of the bleeding tides,
Cursing the shades and pointing to the color that all beings shared,
Spilled relentlessly on fields of intolerance and greed.
And the reddened brown mud dried and cracked over the earth,
And the land was parched with flame and ash,
And the waters became putrid so no one could drink,
And the air thickened, and was brown with smoke and dust,
And the food would not grow because the rains would not fall,
And all of the Earth settled into a deep despair.
Then, just when all of the world agreed that the end was near,
And that nothing could be done to reverse the turn,
A man with skin the color of coffee and milk
Stepped out onto the battlefield,
And with his eyes, ears and heart open wide,
He listened.
And he heard the cries of the people,
And he spoke to them of Hope,
And the hearts of the many who heard his words
Chose him above all others to be their voice,
And to speak the truth for them.
A fuse was ignited and all around the world,
Tall columns built on worm ridden pedestals
Began to crumble and collapse,
As the age of plenty built on shards of illusion
And the backs of slaves
Could not stand tall,
And cowered in the brilliant light of Hope
And words of Truth.
And all of the people fighting
In all of the lands,
Increased their battles,
Reaching farther into the darkness,
Looting whatever remained of anything precious.
They waged on in their wars, in the names of their gods,
Utilizing women and children, in the crimes of their greed,
And causing a great wave of grief throughout the world.
Then on the eve of the day before the man was to become
The voice of the people,
A great cloud filled the heavens and settled over the land,
And a long and quiet snow fell throughout the night,
Covering the fields stained red in the blood of slaves and soldiers
With a soft blanket of redemption.
And in the morning light,
As the sun shown on the fields of ice and snow,
The man the color of coffee and milk
Stood in front of all the world,
And spoke of Peace and the Promise of Humanity.
And all of the people from all four corners of the earth,
Heard the words,
And wept,
For the broken hearts of the many,
That had finally been redeemed.
And the trees, that had stood guard in watch of their fields,
Who witnessed the toils of the pickers and planters,
Those unlucky, who as children
Had been stolen from the arms of their mothers
And sent in the bottoms of ships, in sickness and shackles
To toil in the fields,
The trees who watched helplessly,
Bearing silent witness to the rape of young girls,
Who thought the dream was a fool’s folly
As the weight of somebody’s child
Swung heavily from their branches,
Though try as they might,
They could not release them,
The very trees whose limbs hung heavy in frozen tears,
Suddenly stood tall and reaching their naked branches to the sky,
They danced with their shadows in the fields of snowy white.
Filled with the blood of the ages they sounded in words heard clearly
In the hearts of the crying spirits of mothers and children of Africa,
“Hallelujah!” They sang.
“Behold, a brand new day!“
Dear Readers,
I am very much in gratitude for your eyes, and for your comments, and for your blog postings. It is an odd friendship we all share here in the Blog-Unity. Known by words only, and yet with so much depth as all the writers here know how much you have let your heart flow into your posts. I am honored to be a part of such a great community. A very Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
With love,
Cat
Perhaps a part of the natural order,
or so a wise sage would speak.
And how can I speak ill of you, oh wretched past
For you have brought profound meaning to the music
Which shall ring out in the new morn
As a thousand million peacocks trumpeting across the desert
“Behold! A Brand New Day”
Somewhere,
To Judith, I thank you for the inspiration…
Will we choose wisely
A leader who would see the smallest beauty
And realize its importance to the infinite?
It is difficult to think, in this season, of anything but the dismal gray of politics and the economy. Wouldn’t it be nice if instead our thoughts danced on about how good the grass tastes when it is wet, and how the mountains look with a light mist shroud? I’d like to set my mind alight with those kinds of things…
I’m totally off of sugar which feels great. For the most part I just eat nothing sweet, but when I NEED to have it, there is an (albeit expensive so you will want to conserve if you aren’t rich) product called Organic 0 by Wholesome Sweeteners which is almost as sweet as sugar, and is made from sugar, but does not harm you, it is an organic and naturally occurring process.
I’m off of butter and have reduced other milk fats. I’m eating a non-transfat spread from the health food store which is just fine. I am eating non-fat Greek Yogurt and that is just as yummy as whole milk yogurt, I want to make it myself so that I can save $. I eat reduced fat organic cheeses and they are just fine. Olive oil and nuts, etc. are fine fats that help, but milk-fat doesn’t do anything for you. I still have half and half in my coffee. Fat free half and half seems to have corn syrup which is evil.
I don’t have wine every night, but switch between red wine and kombucha, which I make myself.
I eat cacao nibs instead of sweetened chocolate. Last night, I made tapioca pudding with unsweetened chocolate powder. I used the Organic 0 to sweeten it, and I put cacoa nibs and greek yogurt on top. Yummy. I gorged. Today I was less than yesterday on the scale. I love that.
It is gently raining outside right now, a wisp from the far off distant tail of Gustav which is currently over Louisiana and ruining everyone’s life.
What means this Hope?
Hope is a future that is entirely sustainable.
Hope is a green energy policy that will bring us beyond oil.
Hope is an abundance of good jobs to implement a sustainable future beyond oil.
Hope is a passion for local food, and the end of unsustainable corporate agribusiness that use unstainable farming practices and unstainable energy practices to bring guilt ridden, unhealthy food to the table.
Hope is a healthcare policy that will include all Americans as their inalienable right.
Hope is our youth never having to go to war.
Hope is ethical banking and credit practices that don’t give credit to those who can’t afford it.
Hope is a coming together of people from all races and religions to a cause higher than prejudices of the past.
Hope is a joining of all nations to unite in a common cause of peace, justice and liberty for all.
And Hope is the Global turning back of the environmental mess we have made, so that end the end there will still be someone left…
to Hope
After a long dry summer, Fay appeared to cry all over Western North Carolina.
And that will be nothing compared to the tears I will cry if Obama loses this election.
The Government will not set you free, CHORES will set you free.
This is a phrase I heard for the first time while visiting Asheville, North Carolina last month. I attended a traveling puppet show by a talented group of young folk. Their show was reminiscent of 1960’s style counter-culture troubadours and was a delightful breath of fresh air. Sadly, I’m not remembering the name of the troupe, so if anyone knows it, please let me know and I will gladly credit them on my blog.
Meanwhile, the phrase seems particularly pertinent in light of the latest political grumblings in regards to Obama’s choice of the word ‘bitter’. You all know what I’m talking about, bitter, so they turn to guns and religion instead of government, bla bla bla. Does anyone actually think the government will come to the rescue? I think not. Rescue won’t come until people are ready to rein in their spending habits, and get out there in their back yards, if they still have one that hasn’t been repossessed by the bank, and grow themselves some food!
Eat local. Grow your own food. Don’t spend more than you have. Vote for Obama if you agree that the last 20 years have given us bad government, at least he’s honest about that, maybe he’ll actually bring something better. But don’t think of him or any presidential choice as a savior. It ain’t so. Do your chores, use that elbow grease, help out your neighbor, be active in your own community. I think that’s what it’s all about.
I don’t usually write about dreams on my blog, but this one seemed important somehow. For the record, I’d have to say this is about the 4th or 5th dream I’ve had in which Barack Obama played a positive role. I’ve never dreamed about Hillary Clinton or any other political figure. I find the dreams a little odd, I don’t idolize Obama, although I do hope he becomes president. Remember when reading, it is a dream, and it is strange as dreams are…
The Dream:
I had a doctor’s appointment, and I intended to keep it. I had heard that President Bush was going to be coming to the First Methodist Church on Montgomery Drive in Santa Rosa, and I wanted to go, just to see a President. I was standing on the street in a crowd when Obama walked by, followed by some noble people in orange/red robes of justice. He stopped and pointed to me and another person and motioned for us to follow. I thought about my doctor’s appointment, but being hand picked to follow behind and become a part of his council, I felt I had to continue walking behind Obama. When we got to where we were headed, I told Obama that I had an appointment but I would be happy to cancel. He nodded his head, and left to go to Mars for an important council of leaders. As he left, a large part of earth was sucked out of the atmosphere like a ball, like the moon.
There were scenes of Obama in this place, making important decisions with consequences for the survival of the planet. And there was concern about the consequences of the hole in the atmosphere, and the ball of earth just rolling off and disappearing like it did.
Awaiting the return of Obama, there were large crowds of people in the place where I was. I was standing by the ocean. It was chaotic and frenetic and very dark. I didn’t know what was going to happen, and was afraid. If the ball were going to come back into the atmosphere and hurtle toward Earth it would crush us all. There was a fearful knowing of this among the people. Suddenly the air was raining objects, and the ball came into sight, green and blue like a little earth, it could be seen far off, spinning and coming quickly, its shadow looming over us as it approached. I reached out and took as many as possible into my arms, and everyone else was doing the same. The impact came as expected, but it wasn’t painful. Instead, it was as if we were all released. My cells felt the sense of intermingling, oneness. The missing part of the earth rejoined itself.
And then it was peaceful, and I was walking by the sea. Everyone I passed held up their hand and we touched hands together like prayers, and looked into each other’s eyes. We recognized each other and although we were strangers, we knew each other. We also knew nature, and when I breathed, I could feel the cleanliness of the air; the Earth was restored. That’s not to say there weren’t those who didn’t believe, I could hear comments of non-belief of the restoration being spoken by some. But they would soon see that it was true, because the evidence was everywhere.
And then, as is the usual final course of any dream, I woke up.
But not the adventure.
Ok, I went to Angkor Wat, back to Thailand for two days, and then I came home. The high point was really Chiang Mai, so why have a long drawn out ending?
I came home, and it took two weeks to peer out of my room, and another week before the next adventure was planned: two weeks in North Carolina with my mother in March. I’m thinking of moving to Asheville. It was written that it’s one of the happiest places on Earth (Eric Weiner, “The Geography of Bliss”). We shall see….
Meanwhile, I’ve been busy preparing a photography show of some of my photos from India which will be displayed in the lobby of Monte Rio’s Pegasus Theatre during the performance of their latest offering, The Perfect Ganesh. Directed by Peter Cooper, the play set in India runs from February 23 to March 22. The play also features audio and video I recorded while in India. Please come and check out the play and the photos. http://www.pegasustheater.com/
Some have asked me if I’ve experienced culture shock since returning? Everything costs too much in this country! Especially food. It is appalling to the senses. Food and medical assistance should not break the bank. Nor should your mortgage. One needs time away from work in order to slow down long enough to watch the flow of water.
Stay tuned for more USA centric blogging.
Who invented the term ‘Marine Layer’? I’d like to speak with that person about this term that, in many places, has replaced what used to be known simply as ‘fog’. Fog has poetry. Marine Layer does not.
Cloud, Rain, Sleet, Snow, Ice, Wind, Sun, Sky, Marine Layer.
What is wrong with this picture?
A further example:
Finally, the consummate San Francisco auditory delight: the foghorns blowing in a sublime orchestra of tones, ushering in the misty shroud as it seeps through the Golden Gate, slowly settling over Alcatraz and Angel Islands. Ships that can’t be seen join the foghorn symphony warning the pathway ahead with a long reverberating utterance. With a deep inhalation accompanied by the muted choir of the horns, the fog is drawn up over the eastern hills of the bay and into the lungs of the land. The music transports me into the clouds by day, lulls me into sleep by night, and haunts my dreams, from wherever I am on Earth.
Vs.
Finally, the consummate San Francisco auditory delight: the Marine Layer horns blowing in a sublime orchestra of tones, ushering in the Marine Layer as it seeps through the Golden Gate, slowly settling over Alcatraz and Angel Islands. Ships that can’t be seen join the Marine Layer horn symphony warning the pathway ahead with a long reverberating utterance. With a deep inhalation accompanied by the muted choir of the horns, the Marine Layer is drawn up over the eastern hills of the bay and into the inland valleys. The music transports me into the cumulous hydrogen/oxygen clusters by day, lulls me into inert resting state by night, and haunts my rapid eye movement, from wherever I am on the third planet from the sun.
Stupid Marine Layer.
The foghorn paragraph is an excerpt from my article “San Francisco City Sounds”.
View article published on American Chronicle online magazine.
The required skill set for independent contributors to the current media marketplace is manifold. For radio submissions alone, an indie must be skilled as:
An audio technician.
A computer junkie.
A great interviewer.
A bitchin’ writer.
A persistant journalist.
A brutal editor.
An awesome storyteller.
A narrator with ‘the voice’.
A sociologist or anthropologist and/or extremely well read.
Sensitive and compassionate about inequities.
A musician (Actually, not necessary but it seems so many are, indeed one wonders how many came to public radio due to their involvement in music.)
A thorough researcher.
A good marketer.
Excellent at sales and follow up.
Able to create extra time out of nowhere to listen regularly to every episode of all the programs on all public and foreign outlet radio so they are thoroughly prepared to pitch to that show’s exact style and flare.
Able to drink 10 cups of coffee in a single shot, 10 times a day.
Fearless
Rich, or married to someone who can support them.
Keeping current with contemporary media options, (and one must or they may be left behind, because as one knows, this is The Way of Progress) add photography, videography, web design, blogging, web presence management, video editing, creative slideshow creation, hours spent on researching solicitation opportunities online, oh, and the ability to pull money out of nowhere to pay for the endless supply of equipment and updates needed. If one can master all of the above, one finds they have themselves a skill set to reckon with!
And truly, once one has mastered a skill set such as that, should one really have to ask for fair remuneration for their efforts? Yes, methinks, to ask, perchance, to eat…
Sigh,
Cat
Murmurs
Keeping Secrets
The Walking Man
Within Shades of Grey Exists a Place
Bonnie's Original Art Studio
The Buffalo Pen
Lyrics and Maladies
The Waxing Moon
Old Mossy Moon
Chick with a Quill
My Poems and Emotions
Empty Garden
Another Sober Alcoholic
Dreams, Deliriums, and Other Mind Talk
My Poetic Path
The Clarity of Night
Hello Ello
Writer and the White Cat
My son Christopher's Amazing Art
1 Door Away From Heaven
Melody of Dissonance
Deepaz World of Arts
Silver's Reflections
Craft Green Poet
PoetiKat
She Who Shall Not Be Named
April's poetry
Hello humans, yes, it’s me, Cat of Arc, and I’m back in Cat’s body possessing her fully and completely at this point. Normally she doesn’t like it when I do that, but at this point she’s with me completely and has decided to integrate my forces for the sake of humanity.
I bet you know why I’m here don’t you? Of course you do. You know it like you know that pit in your stomach whenever you see an oil covered bird. You know it when you avert your eyes from the screen when the news goes on and on and on and on and… it will not end.
Even when (if) they plug this hole, it will not end. Apparently this Corexit dispersant can get into the air and rain down on the Eastern half of the US, completely destroying the food chain. That’s right folks. Read this: http://www.eutimes.net/2010/05/toxic-oil-spill-rains-warned-could-destroy-north-america/
Oh, you think I’m over reacting? I’m not. I know that it is possible for humans to screw things up that badly. And if that happens, I’m afraid my telling you to go into battle to make a change isn’t going to do diddily squat folks. If it happens, it is a consequence of what has already happened because your governments and greedy corporations think they can do all of this in your name. In their minds, you sanction it whenever you buy an oil product. All you can do, at this point, is pray that a magic miracle will make it all go away. You can pray that this report is wrong and that nothing that severe will happen. But if it does, do you have a plan B? You might want to think about that.
What we CAN do however, is demand that this never happens again. Friends, since I am from another dimension, I have the privilege of telling you what my associates in that other dimension are saying. They are saying GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE OCEAN YOU STUPID STUPID HUMANS. Normally they feel compassion and love and have recommendations to help, but right now they are really super pissed off and don’t feel so loving. The love and compassion they feel is for THE OTHER ANIMALS. The ones you humans are intent upon destroying in the name of your greedy fingers and stupid choices.
But I know, and you know, that MOST of the humans didn’t actually choose this. In fact, most alive were born into this. Most of them didn’t even know, they were just blindly being led into this without even having a clue what goes on behind the scenes to get them the gas they need to drive. Or the plastic needed to coat their games, toys, bags, houses, and just about everything made in the modern world. Plastic. Oil. It is insidious. Even this computer is full of it.
Are you prepared for a life without oil? If the land isn’t destroyed by these potential toxic rains, let me tell you now, you better know how to survive without leaving your neighborhood. You better know how to connect without your computer, your telephone. Do you know how to make fabric to clothe you? How to grow food to feed you? Do you know how to preserve food without heat? Do you know how to get salt? And the most banal but serious question, can you entertain yourself without a device?
These thoughts should keep you awake because the future depends on it folks. Yes, we do need alternative forms of energy, mass transportation, all of that. But seriously, take a minute to think of every oil related thing you have in your life, and think of a sustainable alternative. Stop it with the turning it off thing you do in your mind. What you don’t know, what you choose to ignore CAN hurt you.
You need a plan B.
Cat of Arc signing out.