Many Long Years

For many long years

I did write you a song

For many long years

When you bound my tongue

I would smile through the pain 

When you bound my tongue

For many long years

Your heavy hand lay

On the top of my head

Your heavy hand lay

And just under water

I struggled and stayed

Just under water

By your heavy hand

Low brought down

Away from the light

I sank deeper still 

Away from the light

The thread of my will

Held because and despite

The thread of my will

Away from the light

And deep in the sea

I sought out my worth

Deep in the sea

I struggled and fought

All the demons that be

I struggled and fought

Deep in the sea

So to drown

The surface I broke

Then I stuttered and stopped

The surface I broke

My breath it was caught

In a water-filled lung 

My breath it was caught 

When the surface I broke

But oh the sun’s rise

As I looked where I’d come

And oh the sun’s rise

It loosened my tongue

And it lifted my eyes

It loosened my tongue

Yes, all the sun’s rise

And oh

My soul

It glows again

Micro Carnivalesque Rebellion

The following note was sent by our friends at AdBusters to individuals who've signed up for a week of anti-capitalist action or, as I promote in my response, pro-culture creation.

Our goal is to catalyze a sudden, unexpected moment of truth, a mass reversal of perspective – a global mindshift – from which the corporate/consumerist forces never fully recover.

Dear jammers, creatives, anarchists & revolutionaries,

As the days of Carnivalesque Rebellion draw near, a debate is emerging amongst our movement. On one side are those whose plans involve a raucous week of stopping traffic, letting off stink bombs and blackspotting billboards. Their argument is that only a festival of the most visceral kind of civil disobedience will shake consumerism to its core. Others, equally passionate and dedicated souls, say that the old lefty tricks of confrontation and escalation don't work any more. They urge a nuanced, slow revolution: a long-term meme war aimed at changing people's spirits and minds.

It strikes us that this is the same personal dilemma that each of us struggle with: deep down in our guts we know that the world demands a radical transformation of the global system. And yet, it seems impossible, perhaps even foolhardy, to topple consumerism and corporate capitalism by confronting it head on. Is there a way out of this impasse? What should we do this November? Send your insights to kono@adbusters.org

My Response:

Micro Carnivalesque Rebellion

To oppose a violent system with violence only reinforces the system itself. A fight against oppression will find strength and ultimately success through intelligent, peaceful action that exposes the greed and fear that corrupts any system it leeches onto, including capitalism. There's no sense in devaluing people just because they're a part of a system. Violence, anger, and aggression are immediate and dramatic, but they divert media and the masses away from real issues and create a smokescreen in which the freedom of plain and simple truth is lost.

We're all a part of this system to some degree whether we want to admit it or not; to war against potential allies postpones a win. For strong and sustainable success, our goal should be to win individuals and leave those who abuse the system to cling to power that is naked and ashamed, stripped of its numbing façade and seen for what it is, a system of twisted logic that will trample the individual for the 'good' of the whole.

With you,

Dave

Bloetry?

Blogged poetry (title?) often seems self-indulgent and I often stop myself from posting such things for that very reason. So it seems more appropriate that this poetic piece masquerade as prose. It might be meaningful, even outside of my own head, but there are only two ways to find out ...

Based on recent post: "God – the transcendent pyro – started a fire inside my chest."

Trees move in perfect sync - connected by nothing but the influence of the wind. Spirit responds in kind with Spirit, transcending time; quarks with quarks, surpassing space. The subtle inflection of each upturned leaf betrays the intention of a distant and identically interpreting other.

I bear witness and am likewise moved.

Rain, Rain (go) Away

As I push the pedal closer to the floor, droplets of rain rush to the upper corners of my windshield. I applied a product called Rain Away last week and, though I'll never really look forward to gloomy weather, I've been anticipating a chance to test this stuff out. 

Well, it's a success. Consider Rain Away recommended. My wipers are off and it looks increasingly like I'm moving at warp speed. 

You may call me Luke.

The past couple of weeks have been very full. Full-time work and part-time social life still leaves a bit of room for family, which is nice ... when they're here. Chuck's in Chicago and the 'rents are at the cottage so I've got a very silent house to myself. It's a good night to be alone. I'm feeling especially tired tonight – mind and body tired –here's hoping this makes for a good sleep ... right after this ...

I had a moment, for the second time this week, where I wished I could stop everything and take a picture. The first was prompted by hundreds of smokestacks/vents from a building south of the 4o1 in Whitby. The second I spotted on the way home tonight. Slick with rain, the concrete dividers were reflecting tail lights as our mirror image shifted in a staggered rhythm along the uneven, glassy surface. With the lilt of some sweet French folk music (90.3FM) and the dreamy after-state that only comes at the end of a long day, it felt like I was in a music video. Not that I could capture that on film, but the longing to do so was a part of the moment. 

Right. I'm wondering if this'll make sense when I read it tomorrow?

Either way, bon nuit.

All in All, It's Fantastic

After a few weeks of changes, I finally seem to settling into some semblance of a routine since the chaos that was thesis completion, Zambia trip, and a few other sources of sleep deprivation.

There are a couple of things that I have come to know more fully and that have stuck with me for more than a month after Zambia, so I figure they're here to stay.

The importance of Trust and the importance of Prayer. 

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly that means, but I wanted to get the blog ball rolling again after a prolonged absence, so, cryptic it is!

Also, (and this one's for you Ted) I've been running a couple times a week recently. Today I did my best 4k yet. All times are compared to last week's times to facilitate my own personal ePat-on-the-back:

• K 1: 4.30 (4.49)
  
• K 2: 4.41 (4.37)
  
• K 3: 4.10 (4.45)
  
• K 4: 3.38 (4.20)

Wooha! Have a sweet weekend ever'body,

Voice Memo

I love this function on my cellphone, but what's this memo from January 4th of last year? As though from another lifetime, I hear my halting voice say ...

"It sounds like the neighbors are slowly roasting their dog on a spit;
making revolutions over a fire pit,
but I can't see over the fence."

Oh.

Yeah.

Those dang rednecks, my dang subjectivity.

Skateboarding: The Goose and Gander Story

I love skateboarding. Not only is it good, clean fun, but it gives me the opportunity to discover other things that I enjoi. For example: photo ops (I really should purchase a legit camera), new friends, hidden urban treasures, bla bla bla. It's great to roll up to an unused parking lot and discover a spot that's perfect to skate – a spot that's somehow 'mine' now that I've discovered it. I'm a modern day Davestopher Columbus.

So, on the way back from the Oshawa Centre, I cut through the parking lot behind Mr. Sub and there, in the middle of the curbed island, was a nesting goose! Cool! It's like a nature show right there in front of me! As I rolled past the little mound of dirt topped with soft, down feathers and a plump mother goose, I took in the serenity of the moment. "I wonder why she's not getting all protective and stuff," I thought as I saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye and, oh crap! DADDY'S HOME TOO! I hopped off my board and braced myself for the flurry of fury that was just behind me. He hissed as he swooped in and thrashed around my head wildly with his wings. He clipped me a couple times before I stepped back and swung my skateboard, but didn't connect because he had already started dropping to the ground to spit and hiss at me. (Just relax Ingrid Newkirk.)

I had been smiling since I saw momma, but now I was laughing as I pictured the whole scene as if from a lonely security camera in this abandoned parking lot. "When Geese Attack! Part # Doom" Actually, it's not that dramatic. I don't know who taught this goose how to wing thrash, but it wasn't very effective. A lot of noise and ... seriously, how threatening can a creature be when it's made of hollow bones and feathers?

So here we stand, me looking to snap a couple cell-pics and this gander – prepared to fight to the death to protect his family.




I was finished after a couple of pictures and began to walk away, which is probably what stirred up a fresh boost of bravado in our friend Dandy Long-Neck. He continued to hiss and came at my ankles with wings stretched low and mouth wide open. Did you know boards double as shields? I love skateboarding.