Header taken from "Messenger" - Art by Kurt Vonnegut

Well we've been open for a while now & already had our first Art Show. It was a great success & I can't wait to have more! We've got more cleaning up in the back half of the bottom floor that we should be finished with soon & then we can start on the top floor, again. Our goal is to remodel the small bathroom that is already upstairs, so that we can go ahead and move in! So in about 6 months, we should be living Downtown!!

The Loft
 
Before & After
 
Our Wedding

 

1.26.2006

LIFE as we know it

We pop out of darkness and into the light
Still only squinting, oh what a fright
We lay in our cribs, adjusting our body
Squirming and murmuring all of the time,
But when we sleep, we sleep just fine.

As we grow and prosper, we begin a new
Sure we live life, but not for just you.
We lay in our beds, adjusting our body
As days go by, we make friends and earn loved ones,
But when we sleep, in our head, only problems.

We are old and feeble now, living to spite
Death has a grip, and is leading the fight.
We lay in our coffin, still and at peace
Together we’ll sing hymns, laughing for all time
We no longer sleep, because watching's just fine.

1.25.2006

Title: No Poet Here

Here’s how I see a life of luxury
People should be civil and act civilly
A girl spits on the sidewalk how classy is that?
Well, perhaps not as bad, if in her hands was a bat.

So you want me to get over, you want to pass
Don’t worry I will, but stop riding my ass
Drive that big SUV, drive it all over town
Spend more on gas, then what you’ve already blown.

Teach your kids not to hit, and right from wrong
But then let them watch crap, yes, all night long?
You say you go to church, but you don’t know why?
Perhaps it’s because, you’re just living a lie?

Don’t ask me for advice, I simply have none
I hear words in my head, and out they come
Although stupidly sounding, mixed and spun.
Together I’ll put them, to one day be done.

I don’t ask for much, not for me or mine
I simply want peace for, yes, all of time.
Be greedy and mean or fake on the tube
But know your times coming, perhaps very soon.

As I read over this filth I never once planned.
You must know I’m not a poet, please understand
Words seem to mean more when you have to think
So spend your days in wonder of this little link.

In the rhythm of life, we search for meaning
Not realizing what it means to be truly forgiving
So if you can find it in your heart to do this small task
In yourself you will see, a broken mask.

1.20.2006

When Evil Shows

When evil shows I’m here to say,
We should not despair nor run away.
We dare not stare or command it, stay.
When evil shows, let us be prepared this day.
When surrounded, let us rise and speak a loud.

“We know death and glory, give us the truth
Not a story. We know horror, it surrounds us
It’s all evil, even on the surface.
We understand nothing yet crave it still,
Give us all Life, for it’s ours and God’s will”

We all sin, but not entirely. We all grieve,
But only slightly.
We see others, but choose not to identify.
Even in death, still we don’t cry.
We morn not their loss or obliterated lives
We’re still here, yet still as unwise.

We see sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers.
Not to mention, sons and daughters.
But this is what’s worst of all; we’re blinded
Yes, by a puppet, No, not a doll.
“It’s alright, it’s nothing”, or so they say,
“You can trust me. Why? Because….I pray!”

Nothing but bombs dropping, missiles launching,
Gun shots echoing after a sudden popping
And chemicals Adrift, silently, deadly, methodically
In a senseless and a meaningless mess, so do we waft.
Still nothing keeps dealing death.

Maybe war is the answer, maybe it’s not?
Maybe this is all, you know, God’s plight?
Maybe to lead is always to fight?
Maybe questions aren’t worth what follow?
Maybe it’s our souls that are truely hollow?

Where will we stand, when all are graves?
For evil is behind us, forcing our hand to amaze.
Who will we look up to, when we misbehave?
Who will bring us out of these tumultuous days?
When evil shows, what will we know.
Is this the way to heaven or what’s below?

1.19.2006

Can You Justify War?

Here is a great article that I found that really says a lot about something I was trying hard to find. I highly recommend reading it.

The Bush Power Grab: How did it get this far?

I found it when I was searching for some articles about war and if war is justifiable and so forth. It’s interesting to note that in our recorded history there have only been about 400 years of peace. I also find it interesting that many Christians totally support war in general. They will justify it because of the terrible things that people do, for instance, using animals to test deadly poisons and other terrible things. Is war justifiable? I don’t think so…or at least, I don’t think I think so… Yes, there are a lot of terrible things in the world, but collateral damage is as just a terrible if not more so. But even if there was no collateral damage, I believe I would still think there are more reasonable ways to handle the injustice in the world. What do you think?

1.11.2006

Free Time All The Time

As a silent guest sitting in a homeroom class of about 30, I was awestruck at the lack of disobedience and the neglectful attitudes of the students regarding their education, self respect, and overall appreciation of their situation.

The average classroom age was probably around 11, I think they were 5th graders. They weren't doing anything special, they weren't about to go outside, they didn't just get back from lunch etc. This wasn't a special class and they all were all told to behave, "Is this how we act when we have a visitor?" Would be asked a few times while I was there.

Now don't get me wrong, I realize that children will be children. But their actions went far beyond that of the normal child who knows when to sit straight, focus their eyes and attention on the teacher and keep their mouths zipped. That's how it was when I was in school, and I wouldn't expect any less from my children (provided we have any) when they go to school.
So I guess my question is and what my thoughts are trying to lead me to, is this. Is there something wrong with these children that needs to be addressed now before later or is this type of behavior normal in this day and age?

Also understand that this scenario happens to me very often with about the same outcome. I walk into a room of roudy kids, they are asked to behave and do so for about 5 seconds and then start up again. If I'm there to work on something, I cannot hear myself think, for one, the issue normally takes me 4 times longer to fix and I think to myself afterwards, "If I can't think about something I do 10 times a day, how are these students going to learn about something that they've never done or thought about before?"
...
I guess I'm just a little confused and amazed on what it's really like in a classroom, considering I only spend such a short time in them, anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.

Do children do better and become more creative in a roudy, unruly atmosphere, or is a quiet setting with Mozart playing in the background more mind expanding for them?

1.10.2006

ExperiMENTAL Bliss

Well, it's a new year and I have yet to keep any of my new years resolutions. Perhaps next year I'll do the smart thing and tell people my new years resolution is to not need any new years resolutions, I do much better without them.

Wow my stomach is going crazy, it sounds like a freight train.

I've come to the conclusion that I don't know what I'm talking about 90% of the time. I think it has to do with all of the Christian radio broadcasts that I've been listening to, they seem to make things sound so literal and matter of factly. I'm sorry, but if in fact I do go to Heaven, I wont be living in a house of precious stones, like jewels and sapphires and diamonds and what not and the streets will not be made of Gold. I don't like Gold.

I learned today that the Devil was created by God as a perfect Angel, but because of Pride or an iniquity, God cast the Devil out of Heaven. So the Devil now has all of this power on Earth. Basically, the Devil or Lucifer (something about being Light) wanted some of what God was getting because he didn't think it was fair that God should get it all. So God makes mistakes I guess? Nah. Seems to me he doesn't make mistakes, why say perfect means perfectly good? But why would God create a creature that is perfectly Evil? Why would God create a creature that is Perfectly Good? Really makes you think about the Chinese philosphy of Yin and Yang again, eh?

So here's a theory. What if God created mankind so as to Live through us, because he could not live as we do because he is God. Because God is everything and therefore cannot experience anything without creating it and becoming it? So perhaps we are of God and God is of Us, yes? Without one, you cannot have the other. Perhaps then God is also Lucifer with free will?
Does everything God create have free will? Does free will mean that we can do what we want whenever we want, but must report to God what it's like to do what we do because we are in fact his creation and as a creation we are to provide a conscious response to certain stimuli? Kind of like in an experiment. Is God the ultimate Chemist? Sure stands to Reason. He's the ultimate everything.

We are all unique and have a purpose, we are of the same importance as anyone else in the universe, equally, despite who you are. A piece of trash on the side of the road has just as much importance in the cosmic scheme of things as do the Trump Towers or the White House. Everything belongs where it is, despite where it might end up. Where in fact it will belong again.

I think that's just another thing wrong with Life. People believe that they aren't important as some other people because of fame or fortune or whatever the circumstance that has befallen other individuals, when in fact, they are just as important in the whole scheme of things, in the whole of the universe.

Was Moses more important than the slaves? No.

Is one grain of sand less important then all of the money in the world? No. Because it belongs there.

So I guess once the experiment is over, we'll be injected into the body of God so he might test his new drug on himself. I sure hope we work and not kill him!

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

Mahatma Gandhi    

Plastic Bags Consumed This Year

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