This week at the Hall, we hosted a Masterclass on Prince – the man, the symbol, the rebel, the genius and the icon. The esteemed C Liegh McInnis, poet, author, teacher, and Prince expert taught the week long class to a classroom that had an age span of 8 years old to 68 years old. We, the students, enjoyed every minute. At the end of the week, one of the teen students came up and…
The Art of War helps you know when to engage and when to retreat. It took me way too many years to learn this art form. I was headlong into engage so many times when all the signs were pointing to retreat. I was watching a clip in the Hall’s Masterclass: Prince yesterday where Prince is called up to the stage at Michael Jackson’s request to James Brown. Prince got up and went full on…
I have a friend who is nearing 90 years old, and many of her friends have passed away. I try to imagine losing most of my friends and how bereft I would feel without their presence in my life and how forced I would be to contemplate my own death. And how lonely I would be living without them. I hope if I live to almost 90, I would meet a friend like me, someone…
I went for a hike with Betsy on Thursday early in Sabino Canyon, then on Friday, I walked in Hoffman Park, which is right outside the house we are staying in. Today, I cruised the neighborhood checking out the plants in people’s yards. Tucson and its plants are enchanting wonders – gardens look filled with props for an Arizona movie set. I was listening to a podcast my friend, Kat had recommended with Dan Harris…
What I really want to say is that sometimes I cannot be what you want me to be. I get tired. I get a virus. I get a UTI. I get overwhelmed. I rant. I rave. I can’t seem to circle back to myself. I have nothing left to say. There are no meditations that center me. My body starts to hurt. Sciatica. Piriformis. I lead with this when I speak to someone about any…
My Tío Vitali always dated women with dark skin and a certain penchant for vudu. He scattered pennies under his bed, kept locks of hair in envelopes, and always had a candle burning on his dresser. My father had his own set of superstitions that he passed along to me – don’t put a hat on a bed, never walk over a person, never open an umbrella in a house, don’t walk under ladders, if…
When Tin and I moved to the Spirit House, I had gone through some stuff. It’s a laundry list of losses and does not bear repeating, but I did something that I never thought I would have to do and in moving to the Spirit House, I had rehomed my dog, Loca, and two cats, Bam Bam and Blackytza. Two years into the new house, a mom at Tin’s school told me about a free…
When I returned from my last Arizona trip, I was tired. I had a tired in my bones that I couldn’t shake and sure enough, a week later, I went down with whatever you want to call it – was it a virus, was it Covid, was it a summer cold – whatever it was, it took the life out of me for one week. And after, it has been a slog trying to play…
Ram Dass calls the body a space suit. It is what was given to us for this lifetime to traverse the humansphere. I have pushed mine to limits without ever being an athlete. I was born with a 60mph out the gate accelerator. Even in 2012, when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s and spent a year under the torture of the medical profession trying to find the correct dosage of thyroid replacement to get me…
Intro:Look, if you had one shot or one opportunityTo seize everything, you ever wanted in one momentWould you capture it or just let it slip?Yo The prompt from Artist Journal was to list this month what you would do if you couldn’t fail. I didn’t do it. I heard it. I scribbled a few words, and then I dropped it. I love this Eminem’s song, where it’s not a prompt, it’s a question: would he…
