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Ecosocietie goes ahead with publishing (en francais mes amis, celui la c'est en francais)

F U Barrack Gold killers. I hope you and your dirty lawsuit get blown to smithereens in some divine twist of fate.

I can't even write something here... the conspiracy theorist in me wants to cry out in horror, tragedy and pain at the likely alarming amount of innocent deaths as a result of mining, pharmaceutical, and who knows who else's corporations as they roam about my continent free to poison, bury alive, shoot down, beat up and generally oppress my peoples in order to schlep some dirty product. Can't even begin.

just mumblin bout muzak here,

I love my conscious hip hop, but as my girl says, "I can slum it" when it comes to certain tunes.

Case in point/Point in case: DJ Khaled, T-Pain and friends remix "I'm so hood". This tune is the lick, if you love bass and badman lyrics, you'll love this track - goes a little something like this,

I'm SO HOOOOOOOOOOOD, and i wear my pants below my waist and i never dance when i'm in this place and you and your boys just tryin to hate, I'm SO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOD, and if you feel me put your hands up, HOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOD, my hood ni**as would you stand up HOOOOOOOOOOOOD and if you not from here you can walk it out and you not hood if you don't know what i'm talkin bout

and then the drums kick and the bass rolls and i wanna screw up my face and kiss me teeth and gwaan pose off like a rude bwoy gangsta and jus' bus' a dance inna de place. fe real.

now, here's my dilemma: there is a line in the remix when Fat Joe ends his rhyme as follows:

You's a crack baby?
That means yo' mama paid me!
You can't even blame me
that's how the hood made me!

now really, does Fat Joe really get it?

Is he thinking "this is the tragic truth of these streets, we kill our own, can't even blame the next man for makin dis paper, jus' hustlin, tryin to get mine"?

Is he dropping some deep social commentary? exposing the hard truth of poverty and drugs? a call to arms?

Or is he just bragging? AND immediately following the garish posturing by abdicating all responsibility like a real smart ass?

man i don't know but every time i hear it I cringe, like I wanna shake my fists and shout "why, Fat Joe, why?!"

please tell me why.

the return of summer

summertime is slowly returning to the streets of toronto. as I emerge from hibernation, squinting my eyes at the sun, I am so glad to see you again. lock up your winter coat, don your sunglasses and come out, you'll see how happy I am to see you!

"it's been too long, what's really good?"

"yo, haven't seen you in a minute, how are you?"

"man, so nice to see you again, what you been up to?"

the sun has returned and found the jovial in me, we are laughing, hugging in the street, I'm so glad to see you again! the return of summer dusted the chills off, greased my shoulders back down to their natural state, put a smile on my face and a kick in my step.

Let's go! Where? Anywhere!

Let's walk! Where? Who cares!

Let's see! What? Who knows!

this way, I am bound to run into you. I'm sure I'll see you soon, somewhere, sometime, likely on these streets, these "nostalgic pavements" grey hot and pounding with footsteps; sandals, flip flops, slip ons - aren't your feet glad? my feet are ecstatic! my skin is calling out for loose fits and lightness and freedom; expose me! show me!

Let's lay out on the grass, I want to soak you in. I see orange when I close my eyes and bird sounds are in the air. Smells like green. Wind blows warm. Feels like alive.

Smile. Summer is back.

missing premise - i believe everything happens for a reason

If i we spoke on Sunday evening you may have noted as one friend did that i sounded "spiritually overwhelmed"...

On Sunday the last two, three, four... all 25 years of my life came to a head in one conversation.

Though I have not included this point on my resume, I effectively run communications for a friend's organization. Perhaps I don't flash it because it feels so informal, casual, non-labour intensive; generally we chat, process her thoughts together and draft a format/ vernacular/ structure to convey the messages. It occured organically this way as we were/are friends and I was among few in her life with whom she could discuss her ideas and I was among fewer who gave her affirmation and the only individual to collaborate on the words with which to share her gift. Her work/ philosophy/ methodology can be described as focused on self development, communication and transformation but not really as those words connote in a conventional way.

There is a slight push and pull here, as we work I am cognisant I fear responses to her work that denigrate her wisdom by labelling it flaky, new age, overly sensitive... the workshop was fantastic because the feedback was positive, but generally the participants were already accepting of these types of ideas...

I fear that as a society, globe, community, we have become socialized to dismiss the power of energy, thought, spirit, vibration... yet these facilities have produced the most mystical aspects of religion and philosophy since the Beginning; ideas that explore our existence, interactions, transformations, healing, believing, feeling (please push from your mind the commercialized, fantasized, over simplified The Secret - bah...) these are the concepts that explain the existence of God, Big Bang theory, quantum physics - i believe these are the most mysterious and powerful of humankind's gifts to ourselves.

The worrisome part is where we find ourselves today, our minds bombarded, assaulted, invaded by the evils we have created and infantilized, hyper-sexualized, desensitized by the mediums we have created to convey and transmit our evils and thereby prey upon people without purpose.

I think the pendulum is swinging back. I think something special is happening in spite of name calling and labeling. I think there are communities of people who believe in their own power to understand themselves , express themselves and transform themselves. And I think I am on the cusp (of some such journey.)

I am blessed to have been exposed to eastern religions as a child (perhaps the origins of my openness.)
I am blessed to have been a part of this process with my good friend.
I am blessed to have stayed long after the workshop speaking with a participant, a healer.

This woman watched my eyes, breathing and posture as I spoke and then began to share her knowledge and understanding.
This woman saw in me a fear and sadness that I had not quite broached in words... words that i always employ so eloquently, engagingly... so deliberately.
This woman pointed me to parts of myself I hid away somewhere deep sometime long ago, parts of myself that I assumed were addressed by my education, formal, informal, environmental and self... parts that i presume to dominate with my reason and rational self, my neck up self... parts that she suggest I merge, meaning to merge heart and head, meaning to be whole, accepting all parts of myself.

By the time I walked away (after admittedly long embraces - thank you Daria, Nadia and Sabita) my breathing had shifted to somewhere under my belly button. I repeated the same words all the way home and I will continue to do so.

I know this is truth. I know I am on my way...

Thank you (universe).

Don't call me flaky, new age or over-sensitive; I am on my way...