Life is Fun. Live it.
There are times when people make snide remarks to me like who do you think you are? There are others who think that my interest in certain topics is a reason to make fun of me. Some marvel at the range of things I do – ‘how do you find the time?’ they ask. It has been like that all my life and when I was younger, the unkind words hurt and wounded me. Even now, there are times when I realize that whatever it is inside of me that drives me, it often puts me counter to mass thinking, fashion or ideas. But sometime around 20 or so years ago, something clicked. It was this. It is my life. I have one shot. Whatever is going on around me,
Read More »Time by Degrees
This morning, the mail lady passed me a large and stiff envelope. I knew immediately what it was and this was confirmed by the University of Strathclyde lettering. It was a replacement certificate for one I lost when I moved to Europe. I opened it with a slight thrill to be honest because that small oblong piece of paper was three years of my life. A different era. A different Universe. A different persona. The year was 1984 and I had spent virtually 6-months painstakingly creating a book. Hundreds of pages long, the book was hand typed and the top copy still has the white tippex blotches marking mistakes. Each diagram was hand drawn in ink and lettering stenciled on. Each photo was hand developed and printed by me
Read More »The Times Wants me to Die of Coronavirus
Yes, it’s true. It wants us older people to die off with the virus because we are more likely to not accept the climate change crisis. Damn right I don’t accept it and have argued ceaselessly for over 30-years that CO2 is not the driver of climate – the sun is. The geological record shows that, science shows that and common sense dictates that. Just because the young are more inclined to believe otherwise doesn’t make them right. Even the political IPCC doesn’t say there is a crisis and it has cherry picked the most extreme scientific theories to support its views. We now live in a world that is backwards. Older, more experienced and yes wise people are wished dead by the young. There was a time when Grandparents
Read More »Živa
Packets of water Jostle moving downstream A rushing whine Grabs my soul As I tumble and roll away Her hair envelopes Like a curtain waterfall The living waters Suck me down Cleansing, refreshing She giggles and bubbles And all of my struggles Are washed away Her caress I must profess Waters that coalesce Exciting the senses Emerging whole and cleansed The Man The Goddess Blessed
Read More »Spring is on its way
Every day I walk the dog or myself around Špilbirk Castle. Im very fortunate to live just underneath it – at least for now. When my own place is ready, I will move away from it. I always feel liberated and rejuvenated up on the hill. It is often breezy and the views of the city and surrounding countryside are stunning. Today was no exception. Today, though, I noticed for the first time that spring is arriving. Small blooms of orange, purple and white have appeared as if overnight. It makes one feel joyous somehow to see these small beautiful colorful flowers! Combined with the views, it made for an uplifting experience ad once again, I felt that connection to the land and to Živa
Read More »Myth and Fairy Tale – A Slavic Angle
I have always adored myths and legends. Growing up, I was addicted to stories of the Greek Gods, King Arthur and other such tales. I also enjoyed fairy tales and read them avidly. My favorite was one called Rumpelstiltskin. Imagine being able to turn straw into gold? Just like an alchemist. Old Rumpelstilskin is depicted as an Imp or Goblin-type creature but the name is also reminiscent of the German words for a poltergeist. The girl eventually goes ‘deep’ into the woods where she watches him singing and reveals his name. According to some sources, this story or a variant of it could be up to 4,000 years old! Notice how the girl goes deep into the woods…..in order to earn the name of the Imp. Fairy tales and myths
Read More »Success is Elusive?
There are people who do something once and bang…. they find fame, fortune and success of that type. There are others who work diligently yet never gain any recognition. I have often wondered what drives this? What is the secret to finding commercial success? Yes, I wouldn’t mind a bit of it as I approach my retirement years. Actually, I have a had a lot of career success but a couple of major failed relationships have left me with very little and so, from time to time, I wish one of my hobbies might take off a bit and provide me with more income. But what is success? I tend to think of success initially in materialistic terms. It made me money, gained me some fame or notoriety and so
Read More »Wanna Buy A Photo??
A couple of years ago, my friend here in Brno – Walter Novak – a quite famous photographer in the USA – gave me some tips on taking photos. I started shooting things with my iphone that I thought interesting. It might be a sunset between buildings, an unusual view of the familiar, an unusual street lamp or anything like that. I then use a tool he shared with me to process it a bit and in as a creative ay as possible. The results I think, have been pretty good. As I collected all of these photos, I inevitable wondered what to do with them? I wanted to put them in an album online but couldn’t ind anything that worked well enough and didn’t cost a grand. Then I
Read More »It’s My Life
One of my more popular songs is a rock anthem called It’s My Life. It was one of those songs that as a writer, it is in your head and drives you nuts. You play around on the guitar trying to actualize something in your head with increasing frustration because you can’t quite get there. And then -POW – you got it and in a few minutes of recording frenzy… its done….. and bugger it – I want this song played full volume at my funeral. A few days ago, a FB friend sent me a private message…. he basically said I was brave to tell it like it was. He agreed with me but if he said as much, he’d be in trouble and lose his job. The
Read More »Let Go!
The last time I visited Whitby Abbey I was a boy. I recall little of it. Just that I was bored. Of course, I have been to Whitby many times since, often with my father who had business there. He would leave me for an hour or so to wander and once I recall taking my oil paints to paint the harbor. I was last there just a few years ago with my parents, ex-partner and daughter. I do like Whitby! I must say that the abbey ruins are fairly impressive but I felt no atmosphere or energies. It seemed a dead ruin to me. A stark reminder of other times. As we pondered aspects of the Abbey in the context of the spiritual prompts of the weekend, my sense
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