Electronic Writer

I think I like Salons. I knew what they were, how they worked, but never attended one before. Last night, North of Fairfax (a tiny town North of Marin County), I attended my first. And, you know what? I like Salons.

Anything that is collaborative, art-related, and a creative outlet has always been a personal favorite. While I feel completely unqualified to make statements about all Salons, I can say a few things about this one–because it was an exceptional event.

First of all, the location was in someone’s home–an actual Salon. The house was a living, working house with a family who lived there–and, the house was filled with wonderful art. It sets the stage when you walk in the door and there are phenomenal paintings in Oil, exceptional charcoal drawing, and sculpture surrounding you. This was an intimate setting, and I was asked to accompany friends who were asked to attend by a friend. And, it was a potluck. So, everyone brought something tasty and vegetarian. The woman who was the MC for the evening was a musician (and who lived in the house) was a singer/guitar player, and she started our evening with a song for us.

There was a wide-range artists who performed. Some people performed, while others sang. There was a monologue, 3 grade-school girls sang gospel, some people read their own poetry, and others read someone else’s poetry. Some cover tunes, and a bunch of original stuff. There was a little Scottish violin, some open-mic vigor, a little real-deal dream poetry, and an entirely unexpected and successful mix of art.

For the sake of society, I hope that our future holds more of these (both for events where I get invited and events in other communities). We need more people who surround children with art, and more events that allow the unexpected to occur. We need more places where people and art intersect. It is in that unexpected place where amazing things happen–both to yourself, and to others.

Open your home and plan a salon. Send invitations. Ask your friends to make art. Make some yourself. Be surprised–the unexpected will make you better.

The Electronic Writer blog has been silent since last September, but that is about to change. There are several reasons for the silence:

1. My writing has been divided amongst venues. I have organized my writing into categories and only my political writing was published on the blog.

2. My efforts towards my business have doubled. Putting more of myself into my work has had trade-offs. The clearest trade-off has involved my time. And, while I have done things to increase productivity, I have just spent more time working.

3. My soul has been divided. I have been distraught with the situation of things both at home and abroad. As a result, the politics of my political blog have been on hold. I have read more poetry than news–and without reading the news, it is hard to be informed, and without being informed, there is nothing to write about.

4. My fire had dwindled.

With this new incarnation of the Electronic Writer blog, the writing is going to be much less specialized. In fact, it will be more representative of myself–diverse, interested in everything, seeking dissonance and the truth, and easily distracted . . . .

Feel free to comment, make requests, or lambast me if you must. Some blogs are intended to be deeply personal and private. This is not one of them. Enjoy.

Last night, I watched “Dancer in the Dark” for the first time. Bjork is a muse. She is my inspiration. She is phenomenal, and so talented, and a creative genius.

I have repeated a quote for about seven years now: “Dance until the music finds you.” It implies that you have an idea of what that music sounds like. You can envision it. Your thoughts create a vacuum, and the universe then fills the silence with the music that matches your dancing. This concept is something I hold completely dear, and yet, it has avoided me for nearly my entire life. Or, perhaps it has sought me, and I have run from it.

Bjork’s entire film was about this very concept. Music happening–filling in the void around your idea. Life adding rhythm to your dancing. I have rented the movie for a week–and will get to watch it several more times before I have to return it.

I started reading the news again. It has been awhile. Perhaps I have been a little depressed about the state of the world. Perhaps I have been avoiding that pressure. Perhaps I have been preoccupied.

After the last election, with the atrocities that happened in polling places, and the Republic Party’s resurrection of “Jim Crow” laws to challenge voter eligibility INSIDE the polling place in Ohio, and the garbage bags of “lost” votes in Florida, and election officials publicly promising to “deliver elections,” my reaction was that it was time for writers and thinkers to DIG IN and start doing their part. My pre-election threats to my family that I would whisk myself to a old-world European country to escape in the event that the scoundrels in-charge stole another election vanished entirely. I knew that I had to stay in America, and change the minds of people with words and ideas.

While perusing the 300+ articles that matched my general criteria, I found myself reading an article at SFGate.com about nearly a THOUSAND pilgrims who died while trying to cross a single bridge in Iraq. It was such a devastating amount of people that even though there is a war going on around them, the community is still reeling from the loss.

At the top of the page, just as I started to process the details of the article, I noticed a banner advertisement, and there appeared to be a man’s naked chest (the head and torso were blocked . . . . The copy for the advertisement read, “Under the Patriot Act, your information is no longer private. Strip away the sound bites and learn the truth. www.aclu.tv.” Are we really in a state of being where organizations have to ADVERTISE the truth in order to get Americans to participate?

Maybe, I could write some of the advertisements we might read in the not-so-distant future:

• Taxes have been temporarily suspended. Instead, please make your checks out directly to: The President and his Friends.
• Big Brother is here. He has opened up special camps, and all FREE THINKERS are invited.
• The HIDDEN oil crisis: How are the executives of the oil companies going to spend their record profits?

WorldNetDaily: Developer seeks Souter’s property:

Developer seeks Souter’s property Looks to build ‘Lost Liberty Hotel’ at home of Supreme Court justice

I guess I have always had my personal “punch-card” of things to do before I die, and quite frankly, I never expected Weare, NH to be a place on that list.

This morning, Weare, NH vaulted unexpectedly to the TOP of my list. As soon as it is built, God-willing, I will be staying in the Lost Liberty Hotel. Curling into bed at night with my complimentary copy of “Atlas Shrugged,” by Ayn Rand and with a belly fully of goodies from the “Just Desserts Cafe,” I will drift off to sleep. In the morning, I will wake with expectation–later in the day, I will be strolling through the Museum of Lost Freedom in America.

Please–don’t take my word for it–read all about it here . . . .

CNN.com – Group: Internet Explorer share slips below 90 percent – May 13, 2005

Things are better than I thought. Go Open Source . . . .

Wow. I cannot verify the sources, nor have I heard of any of this before, but there are quite a few photographs, and more than one convincing argument. See for yourself.

What hit the Pentagon on 911?

Firefox: Blazing a Trail to 50,000,000:

Way to go Firefox! You guys are awesome–and thanks for building a standards-compliant Web browser that doesn’t install virii into the computers of my family and friends!

You are the best!

-Standards-compliant Web Developer

(Who hates to have to patch my work to display in IE 5.0, IE 5.5, and IE 6)

NextBus/How NextBus Works:

This is really awesome. Up-to-the-minute updates of where your bus is located–if it is running on time, or late, etc. including Web alerts. Spend less time waiting at the bus stop, and make your commute smarter. Next time I am in San Francisco . . . .

Lawsuit could grab Tiger by the tail | CNET News.com:

Did they Trademark the Tiger, or did they trademark “Tiger Direct?” This reminds me of another absolute garbage lawsuit–when Ernest and Julio Gallo sued the region of Chianti in Italy because they had a rooster (“gallo” in the Italian language) on their label. Unfortunately, the world court sided with the Gallo brothers, and the rooster (a staple on the label of Chianti Region Chianti’s for years) was ordered to be removed . . . .

Get ‘Tiger’ at Tiger Direct

Someone at Tiger Direct needs to turn this into positive marketing rather than whining about it to the courts and asking for money because their search engine ratings are not so good anymore.