[L, diary, ephēmeris] 1) BLOG

4/16/2015 10:13:51 PM

To Have a Friend

"3 column x 7 inch Ad,

OCTOBER 1st, 1996 issue/Anderson Valley Advertiser"

In the Fall of 1996, Bill and his best friend, Al Wasserman would be celebrating their 70th birthdays. We were aboard PILAR in the Solomon Islands with no plans, while in California Al was planning a large party that would include Bill. The donation of airline miles to enable us to fly back came with restrictions to 3 available airports; we chose sailing down to Australia rather than slog upward to Hong Kong or Manila (small irony there, as we ultimately settled here, anyway!).

While underway, during my night watches while Bill slept, I secretly began crafting a word-portrait of their friendship. I planned to surprise the two of them with it by placing an ad in their favorite radical newspaper, for the October issue, in time for the party. It was an art piece, a personal vision and it was okay if no one else understood it. The copy for the ad was a summation of all the significant points in their lives, meaningful to only those of us who'd shared the events with them along the way.

Last Monday, just as I was completing my last post, a Skype call came through from the son of our old friend, Al. It was difficult to not be eerily aware of the synchronicity, or the poignancy of having just read Bukowski's poem:

Bill passed on in September of 2009. Al's time remaining, I was told on Monday, may only be calculated in weeks. Both of them lived marvelous lives, as testified in the scant sampling in the AVA ad. The gods and Bill await the delight of Al's company, while those of us who were blessed by their light, find comfort and inspiration in our memories.

4/13/2015 7:51:32 PM

Inspired

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While reading Mark Adam's post in this morning's FASO Newletter, (YOU WILL NEVER BE READY), he finished with a line from one of Bukowski's poems. The line of poetry was intriguing, not the doom and gloom I have always associated with his poetry.

My husband and his best friend used to have wondrously lively, humorous discussions between themselves as Al was a huge fan of Bukowski but Bill was NOT.

The line of poetry was “The gods wait to delight in you” so I Googled it and was fortuitously drawn to this particular link:

http://justamemo.com/2011/08/10/the-backstory-of-the-laughing-heart-post/

My cousin is a poet, so I thought she, especially, would appreciate not only this young man's step-by-step process of shaping the poem into something of his own, but also Bradley Bell's work (who made the animated film) which inspired what came after it. I sent her an email with the above link but felt restless after it was gone. "Not enough..."

I wanted to continue sharing the radiant uplift of being inspired by what Mark had begun--No-no-no, I don't have time now to do check out the quote...Wow...Al was right, Bukowski hits me. Ohmygod! this other guy does what I do with capitals and line spaces and that feels so GOOD...Oh! and look at what has been done in this film...HOW DID HE DO THAT?? I want to do that, too...look how everything here is built on something else, each of them building a new platform, reaching an individual view from the same source...creatively, collectively...Infinitely inspiring.

Yes. Mark is right. I will never be fully prepared to do anything, especially writing posts, but if I will just DO IT--NOW...

4/2/2015 7:34:36 PM

Poverty Isn't An Excuse

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"We cannot put off living until we are ready.

The most salient characteristic of life is its coerciveness:

it is always urgent, "here and now"

without any possible postponement.

Life is fired at us point-blank."

-José Ortega y Gasset-

Yes, indeed.

This quote struck a strong note with me, particularly about setting up this website. I did a fair amount of wailing in my last post about having too many projects, too little time; feeling swept away by a relentless current. "...a current through an unfamiliar land," I thought, later...and could now add, "one with many tributaries!" as I try to decide which topic to start with, this morning.

So let me begin with the past, the too-long ago past of 2006 when the tribute to Sue James' talent for teaching valuable lessons about using natural materials instead of store-bought, was side-tracked in the urgent flood of a too-fulsome Life.

This is Sue:

(can't you just hear her say 'HI!'?)

Here students are beginning to make their brushes:

Sue is explaining to Ryan how to pound the fibers of his coconut frond stick

...using a stone to spread the fibers.

After gathering raw materials to make Egg Tempera paints, the students created personal Paint Charts:

& began painting...

Now for the really great part:

This is Avelino:

(...he is helping Roselyn with another project Sue had for us, making decorative cement tiles.)

In 2006, Sue worked with Avelino to create paintings for the nursery rhyme she edited to suit our rural Filipino culture. Here (finally!) are the front and back covers of the book that has been published:

And I hope you enjoy it, too!

Thank you, Sue, for far more than is expressed here...