Holy Crap! Really, A Year?!

Well, damn!

Seems like it’s been a year since I posted here…oh, wait!

It has!

That’s the problem with blogs and such, if you don’t stay up with them, they have the irritating habit of slipping away. And then you want to start another blog and then you remember you had a blog at some point.  At which point you get back online to your blog, if you can remember your password (three attempts for me and didn’t have to reset, woot!) and then you look at the last date and realize…

…it’s been a year!

Well…

…fuck it.

I’m back!  To bring the madness, once again!

Things have changed in a year and right now I am relocated to the Hills of Central Texas for a time.  More on that later.

The world is changing and there is a need for some madness, some Cheshire Cat, some Deadpool, some Chaotic Evil (nerd out! What, what!).

Stay tuned and keep on with the good work!

Know Your Place and Shut Your Mouth

Years ago, I had a conversation with my Uncle about a young man at UCLA who was tasered after asserting his rights and not complying with the officer (not to be confused with Don’t Tase Me Dude).  The whole thing was captured on cell-cam and I was incensed at the level of escalation by the officer.  My uncle commented that you just don’t argue with police and everything will be okay.

I was reminded of this when reading our local Alternative Newspaper, The Alibi, which featured the cover story about cop shootings (11) in Albuquerque this year.  Then, two nights ago there was a feature on the news about a couple trying to give food to the homeless and being hassled by police for not having a permit.  The woman of the couple went right to cell-cam and the whole interchange was captured.

The cops were not overly aggressive, but there was the distinct sense of CAPITULATE exuding from the cop.  Then all of the sudden there were four cops in the video.  Then the guy was arrested and cited for failing to FOLLOW AN ORDER and INCITING A RIOT.

I wonder if these cops have ever seen a riot.  A true and terrifying riot.  Where the people have stopped capitulating.  An immense and overwhelming riot.  Where the people will not bow and scrape their knees any longer.

Tacky misdemeanors, power games, fear.  Do what we say and everything will be okay.  Obey, obey, obey.  It’s for your own good.  We know best.

But as Dr. King said, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind…

…so, know your rights folks.  Be reasonable but don’t stop questioning.  De-escalate but don’t surrender.  And know your rights.  You have them.  Lots of them.

Know your rights and everything will be okay.

Along About the Mountains

From my living room, I have an incredible view of the Sandia Mountains. They loom over Albuquerque, but do not impose themselves. They rise simply and beautifully from the high desert to over 10,000 feet at their peak. You can see the radio antennae poking from the top, reminding you of how we have tried to bend the stones to our will, but they are so small on the top of the mountain, like stray hairs. Harmless and laughable.

I am in awe of these mountains. They wash of so many colors. Named for watermelons, the cast red in the summer and on bright winter days. The clouds hover close and storms roll off the sloping edges during the monsoon season in the late summer.

One day I will teach my son about the mountains. Tell him the stories of the ancient people who called the mountain home, who called the mountain sacred. I will teach him of all the mountains in all the world and tell him all their stories and show him all their colors.

But for this time, we look from the living room at the mountains cast in pink and red. I hold him on my lap and wrap him in loving warmth. I whisper in his ear his heart name and show him the peak, the antennae, the clouds, the sky. I tell him stories of his grandfather and the ancient ones.

And he smiles and closes his eyes to dream of the earth and sky.

Mountainair Poetry and Sunflower Festival

The Madness has headed south for some poetry…

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

I had some “friends” in college who would never do their dishes.

They would throw everything in the sink and when the sink and the counter were full, they would throw a sheet over the whole business and go play video games. When there was not a single dish, cup, or utensil left in the house, they would finally break down and clean the whole thing, vowing to never let it get that out of control again.

Weeks later, I would go into the kitchen and find the same sheet covering all the dishes in the house. And there I would be, eating cereal from a frying pan…

It’s amazing how much faith we put in a sheet to make everything disappear until we are absolutely out of options. I’m sure it would have been easier to buy paper dishes or wash each dish one at a time or, or, or…instead a raggedy, grease stained sheet was called upon to solve the problem they, we created.

Dispatch from Albuquerque: City Clears Park of Homeless Popular Campsite.

I’m sure you understand the metaphor.

(Aside: I love that it’s called a “popular campsite”, as if the homeless folks living there were just hanging out with with family, doing some fishing, enjoying the scenery…)

And the biggest complaint is not that there are human beings living in a park without basic necessities, but that it looks bad and might be a sanitary hazard.

Put em away so we don’t have to deal…hide em and harden our hearts, so we don’t have to realize we are one step away from being where they are…

Throw a sheet over it, that always makes it better.

New Beginnings and A Little Madness

And so…

This is High Desert Madness: Notes from an Arid Climate…so it stands to reason I am writing from somewhere in the Southwest. Albuquerque, New Mexico to be precise. It is a beautiful and clear Tuesday, sunny, high 80′s. A nice place to write from…

There’s always a lot to speak on…many things taking place in the world…many things taking place around the state, from the 505 to the 575…I hope to capture some of it and give you a flavor of our slice of the world.

We are sapphire skies and green chile. We are dust storms and flash floods. We are brilliant sunsets and the wild west.

Get ready for some High Desert Madness!