Other Eyes
Sometimes I see things. Its been that way all of my life. Now, when I say ‘see’, I’m not sure this is an accurate description yet it is the only word I can use. I see and feel all at the same time and the two ‘senses’ are somehow merged as if one. As an example, a few months ago, as two friends and I stood within a stone circle close by the Scottish border, I ‘saw’ a lady step out from behind one of the stones and smile. Her hair was loose and flowing in the wind and she wore a flowing gown of sheer simplicity. As I mentioned to my friends “Oh, we have a visitor!” They both looked down the approach path expecting someone, well, physical. Then,
Read More »An Immigrant and His Life – Walter Novak
Last week, I met my friend Walter Novak for a beer and a chat. Walter is a Czech-American that found fame in the US as a photographer and rightly so – he has a unique ability to find the photo. The topic of the conversation drifted to his life story and what he told me I think is very apt given the times that we live in. He left the former Czechoslovakia two-years after the velvet revolution. When he arrived in the USA, he could barely speak a word of English and he had to gain a green card of course. For a couple of years, he had two jobs mopping floors and he got up and demonstrated the movement that he perfected so well as he mopped for maximum efficiency.
Read More »The Modern Mysteries ~ Steve Tanham
The ‘mysteries’ have been with mankind as long as we have existed. They are a collection of paths that take us inwards; restoring a sense of self deeper than that which reacts, and showing us that mankind is much more than a biological animal – though animals, and their focus on the ‘now’ have much to teach us, too. The reason these paths work is that we are more than we appear to be. The reactive nature of the self-in-the-world, the personality, fixes it into a certain relationship with its world. This is vital for survival but not so for our potential evolution. Mankind is not a finished project. Nature can only take us so far, beyond that point we have take responsibility for our own self-development, and the power
Read More »Someone is Listening
I got a report from Spotify this week. Apparently, my songs were listened to for a total of 14,000 minutes in 2018. OK – it’s only 9.72 days but, for an unknown guy in his late 50’s, I’m quite pleased. Spotify is only one place to hear my music – it’s available to and hopefully listened to on many other platforms like Deezer, iTunes, Amazon, Soundcloud, and Reverbnation to name a few. Someone is listening. In the run-up to Christmas, I treated myself to a couple of things to try to get my sound quality even better in 2019. I bought a pre-amp for the microphone to try to beef up vocal quality and a synth keyboard for better keyboard dexterity – I was using the QWERTY keyboard! Some of the
Read More »My Personal Ecdysis
So strange That moment When you realize You never lived at all It was a life for sure But what was it all about? Strutting on life’s stage All sound and fury Yet signifying ‘not nothing’ Rather lived as expectation Being what you thought You should be But what do I want to be? Who am I really? I’ve masks upon masks So deep, I forget Which might be the real me I begin to peel Layer after sticky layer I peel so deep It really hurts And even now I’m unsure If I’ve reached the core Or, am confused myself As to where my skin Ends and really begins Have I reached my true insides? Is that why I’m feeling sore? I shed each skin And then begin To
Read More »Motel Hell
Motel Hell is my new book. Here is the beginning of it just to whet your appetite….. I haven’t written much in recent months as I was lacking the motivation. After writing about the black-eyed kids, nothing much scared me enough to get me interested to write. I began a book early last year on haunted hotels but found the topic was already well-covered and the same old places discussed over and over. Then, I remembered Trip Advisor! I had come across a few reviews by people who spent a terrifying night or two in a hotel that was occupied by something sinister. As I went back over my notes, I began to feel a growing sense of excitement as many of these reviews are both chilling and yet, quite
Read More »Rock music ~ the sound of prehistory – Reblogged from SC Vincent
During the summer, I spent a magical weekend with friends Sue Vincent and Stuart France… Here is Sue’s account of a small part of that weekend and a lot of fun trying to make music from a rock…. Way back when the world was warm and the sun remembered to shine, our friend, Gary Vasey, came over from the Czech Republic for a weekend. It was to be our second meeting in the going-on-fifteen-years that we have been close friends, and it was a memorable one for a good many reasons. We wanted to share some of the places that had played such important roles in The Initiate, the first of the books Stuart and I wrote together, which Gary had called “a work of brilliance“, sharing our excitement in the journey. So
Read More »So You Think You Know Me?
One idea that constantly occupies some aspect of my thoughts is how transparent people really are. I can think of a couple of examples immediately and in each case, I confess I am often troubled and upset by it. It seems to me that these people believe they know me. They plainly have a picture of me in their mind. A sort of working model. The problem is is that while that picture may have my outer appearance, it is almost certainly a facet of themselves that occupies that outer form in their mind and yet, they do not know this. It makes for an endless source of irritation in our communications. It means that everything I ever say or do is seen against their expectations of how I will
Read More »My Virtual Reality
Last night, my daughter and I watched a movie about Katy Perry. As I stepped away for a smoke, these words suddenly came to mind…… Not sure what it means. Come with me Into my virtual reality Come with me Feel the depth of my insanity I’m sliding away, headed anywhere I’m skipping this insane reality I’m easing on through to be with you I have found my pastures new I’m in my own world of pain and memory Trapped inside some slick pop melody It’s like living a Katy Perry song gone wrong I’m losing my mind inside this silly song I saw you just the other day as you turned away A flash of anger, and then the hell to pay Is this a virtual world, a
Read More »The Age of the Mantra
Those who know me will know that I’m a skeptic on CO2 being the primary driver around climate change. I’m called a ‘climate change denier’ despite the fact that I embrace the fact the climate changes. My ‘sin’ is to have some other opinions about why climate changes and despite, the mantras, there is a lot (and increasing) of scientists that share this view. However, this blog isn’t about climate change, it’s about mantras. You see, as soon as my position on climate change is known then I’m seen as a right winger. Again, those that know me will know that this isn’t at all true either. I’m a critical thinker and I have the confidence to hold my own options on almost every topic around which I have some
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