holiday in the sun

(one of many dilapidated pieces of americana lying around my ol’ homestead)

I’m taking a break from everything. Well not everything, I’m currently poking around ideas that I pull out between things. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is near. Last I thought about it, I was kicking around costume ideas. I’ve been working too much. The day job has really dragged me down and caused me to cancel or postpone things. Things I didn’t want to bail on. Simply not enough hours in the day. A feeling of being stuck comes to mind.

But I carry on. I’ve got a meatloaf going. Back-up in case I get hosed on leftovers. As I have been for the past few turkey daze. Looking forward to going back to Jumbo for my family’s thing. Wondering what book by fill-in-the-blank conservative hack get’s pushed in my face. I go because I’ve hit that age, that era, where sadly you don’t know if a piece of your life will slip away. Next year. Next month. Who knows if that family’s neighbor ‘will be around next year’. That sort of thing. It runs through the back of my mind now. Has been for a while.

I’m always moving forward. Moving. The next project. New interests. It’s part of being an artist. Never remaining stagnant. I sometimes forget how old I am, till something happens. Like sleep apnea. Or I go check out a band and everyone looks underage. E-v-e-r-y-o-n-e. I honestly don’t know where that decade went. An entire decade!?! Everything seems like it happened 5 years ago when really it was 1999. Shit gets fuzzy. Yikes.

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I find myself really connecting with Henry Rollins lately. Not so much the Black Flag stuff. I’m not going to front here but I first became aware of him (and Bad Brains) from his outing on the Pump Up the Volume soundtrack. Kick out the Jams!! A spiritual awakening of sorts. A much needed one after living so close to the Amish. Anyway, I happened upon his killer radio show on KCRW. Listen to it religiously. He pours over his record collection. Spouts off some wisdom. It’s great.

I would watch a travel show if Henry Rollins was the host. Seriously.

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Occupy’s restored my faith in America and democracy. People finally waking up to the current state of things. Ready to start changing it for the better. America is not broke, it’s just that all the funds are held by the few. Corporations are not people. I’m not anti-business, I just want accountability restored. Only looking out for number one is not an American value. We need to start looking after each other. As a group but more like a planet. Military needs to be reigned in. Tax Wall Street. Tax speculation… heavily. Repeal the Bush tax cuts and increase taxes on the top earners. Trickle down doesn’t work. Never has. People will still invest and participate in start-up’s. The sky will not fall.

The constant showing of courage and non-violence is inspiring to say the least.