Trip to Colorado and Hot Springs

I'm on my way to Denver, will be arriving sometime around midnight tonight. I lucked out and got a rideshare on craigslist with this great girl who's dad owns a hot springs resort in Utah. I stayed there last night, and spent today soaking up the good vibes. I brought up a vintage old record player that I'm listening to right now. Check out the photos, maybe we can set up a retreat here someday...

www.flickr.com/photos/ins...6111069886/

Videos I made in Oakland

Check out my new videos that I made:
www.youtube.com/watch - Spinning doubles and contact to Sugarhill Gang's "Apache" (My first double's video)
www.youtube.com/watch - Spinning contact to the Flobots' "No Handlebars"
www.youtube.com/watch - Spinning contact to Gift of Gab's "Rat Race" (I go almost the first minute without using my hands!)

Let me know what you think!

The Vulcan

I've been having a blast up in Oakland so far. Here is a set of pictures my friend Jim and I took at the Vulcan today, mostly of their garden and artwork. I feel so inspired by all the creative people up here...

www.flickr.com/photos/ins...5854513402/

Reverend Billy

I'm up in Oakland hanging out with my friends Jim and Garth that I met down in Mississippi while we were volunteering with Hands On USA. I interviewed my friends Austin and Garth yesterday about the work we did, and am gonna be chatting with Jim in a bit. Jim and I drove to Burning Man for our first time together after talking with Garth and other volunteers who described not just a big party, but an unparalleled opportunity for spiritual and artistic expression. Jim and I just sat down and watched a movie that captures that creativity and spirituality better than anything I've seen in a while...

Its called What Would Jesus Buy, by a guy named Reverend Billy who I think is about as close to Jesus' true message as any preacher I've ever heard. See for yourself:

video.google.com/videoplay

Here's his website: www.revbilly.com/

I think this guy pretty well represents my community (he attends Burning Man every year www.youtube.com/watch ), my country (he's a true patriot and bill of rights activist www.youtube.com/watch ), and my faith (he is pushing for people going back to the true meaning of Christmas and family www.youtube.com/watch ).

Let me know what you think...

Goodbye Opa

My grandfather passed away Sunday morning. My mom just wrote his obituary:

HENRY "Hank" HEYMING
9-16-1923 ~ 6-14-2008
Born in Silvolde, the Netherlands. Hank is
survived by his beloved wife of 58 years Connie
of Fallbrook; daughter, Catherine Hallett of
Dana Point; son, Frank Heyming and daughter-
in-law Lucy, of Riverside; and daughter, Connie
Stacey of San Jacinto. Hank was Opa to 14
grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
As a young man, he was an excellent
equestrian and hunter. Hank was part of the
Dutch Resistance and the Canadian Army
during WWII. After the war, he married and
brought his young family to Ottawa, Canada
and eventually to the United States where he
owned and operated a family restaurant. Hank
continued to work in the food industry and
was instrumental in building several restaurant
chains, including Denny’s, Jojo’s and Howard
Johnsons. He was manager of the Victoria
Country Club.

Hank was an avid photographer, appreciated
all things of beauty especially art and nature.
He had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. He
and his wife traveled extensively throughout
the United States, Canada and Europe.
He will be greatly missed by all his family
and friends.

-------------------

I was going to be traveling back up to Oakland to work on my disaster relief book, but now I'm staying in Southern California until at least Friday for the funeral.

Opa was a great guy. He was a super conservative, old-world curmudgeon, but he was also an awesome grandfather, a real inspiration. He and his relatives protected a Jewish family in his house during WWII, he converted his pickup into a wood fueled gasifier to evade the Nazis, as an amateur geologist he collected beautiful agates all over Utah and the Southwest, and he was the patriarch of a big loving family. I was the last person to visit him other than my Oma. He really laced into me for not having a job, but he also really cared about me and wanted the best for me.

I'm gonna miss my Opa.

Back in Southern California

But for how long? I'm grabbing my computer, writing up some articles/chapters and turning some compost. Anyone want to hang out. It looks like the heat wave that was going to wipe out my parents' garden fizzled, and the flowers are still blooming! Now is the time, I'm going to be going on a road trip in the next couple weeks and I won't be back until the first week of July...

Sticks and Weddings

I just got back from my little brother's wedding. I'm so proud of him, he really nabbed a cool wife. She's a huge nerd just like him, adorable, smart, and funny. They make an awesome couple, and their wedding was fantastic. It was in the redwoods under an oak tree in the Santa Cruz mountains, with a view of the ocean and old growth forest all around. I got to see all my brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, including my niece Dotty who I met for the first time.

I'm debating about driving back down to LA. I need to get my computer, and maybe do another project or two...

I may be coming into a few thick gauge rattan staves of different lengths. I'm considering adding metal endcaps to them and putting a caribeener hole for modular attachments.

You could hook on fire poi to spin fire, a sponge, towel, light, or whiffle ball with dry ice to spin water, whistles or bubbles for wind, who knows what for earth, you could attach anything that you hooked with a caribbeener.

I also am thinking of pruning some sticks from my parents house to make into staves. They have over 300 different kinds of trees, and some are badly in need of pruning.

I'm in San Jose right now, but I could come back down and this would be one of my priorities. Anyone interested in helping out? I'm willing to share, but it'll take a bit of work to straighten the rattan, prune the other staves, attach the endcaps, come up with attachments, etc...

If I don't do this now, I won't do it for months, because I'm about to go on a huge roadtrip visiting people I may want to give these away to. So I don't have alot of time to do it....

Zen of Oak Circling

I had the pleasure of helping the Do Lab break down after Lightning in a Bottle this past week. The event itself was great, it was like a super classy Burning Man with beautiful people wearing amazing costumes, art everywhere, fantastic food, and incredible talent at all turns. It rained a bit, which I'm sure the organizers could have done without, but I liked it. The damp cold just made the trips to Peace Man's sauna that much more refreshing.

Aside from the festival, the breakdown was really a good experience. I got to put my muscles to good use, moving all kinds of huge stereo and lighting equipment, taking apart stages, and especially, cleaning up MOOP. Matter Out Of Place, garbage, trash, mostly cigarette butts, pieces of plastic, confetti, and the occasional scrap of metal. It was very zen, slowly circling these giant oaks and picking up people's thoughtless discarded items. Many of the volunteers complained about the omnipresent MOOP, and I joined them at times, but in the end I was really grateful to have a few days of quiet contemplation and toe touches. To top it off, the food for the crew was top notch, with chefs preparing the best sushi I've ever had in my life, as well as all kinds of delicious Thai and Italian dishes. I loved it so much I gave one of the cooks a ride up to Oakland afterwards.

Now I'm up in the Bay Area, visiting my friends Jim and Garth that I met down in Mississippi doing disaster relief work. I also have been couch surfing around the Vulcan, a cool warehouse full of some of the most talented jugglers, fire spinners, and object manipulators on earth. I figure that while I'm unemployed, I might as well at least get some of my skills down. Maybe I can even take the workshop on martial arts stretching and staff manipulation on the road... we'll see.

Beauty

I don't know why, but somehow my life has led me to some pretty beautiful places. I've been looking over my pictures from the past few years, and damn, I'm one lucky dude.

Why do I consistently find such majesty, so many delicate, breathtaking gorgeous moments, so many inspirational people? Am I seeking it out? Does it find me? Is everyone living this way, and I'm just assuming I'm different?

More Pictures Up!

Check out these great photos my friend Jack took of my parent's garden:
flickr.com/photos/inspe...605181781196/

Thanks to everyone who's come out and visited, its really cool to be able to share something so beautiful while its around...