1st DIBS iDiOcy

For your viewing pleasure, a few more choice items "sale- priced" at the generally (have to give 'em they props) posh antique/ vintage site, 1st Dibs. The stuff below, however, were given the seal of approval by the crack- addicted curator they can't seem to get rid of.

Large, foogly statue of a woman, probably sculpted just as she entered the bedroom door and saw her husband hittin' another chick, or based on her image in the mirror when her Buttfuck, Anywhere stylist did the big reveal on her new hairdo. One thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars gets this on the mantel at home. Or thrown at your soul-sucking, money- grabbing, ass- wipe of an ex.

No, they aren't earrings. They're candleholders, though what size candle would fit, as well as how the heck you'd make it stand without burning down your entire crib, is a matter for debate. One thousand, seven hundred sixteen dollars and this firetrap is all yours.

Now, the round brown thing above is a beehive. I know, I'm scratching my head as well. What place does a beehive, lacking any sort of artistic merit, in fact resembling your 7 year old's first attempt at pottery, (the one you put on top of the 'fridge in juuuust the right spot so that it oops! falls and breaks at any sudden movement) have in your home? And are unused/ re- purposed beehives still attractive to bees??
I wouldn't take the chance, especially for a whopping twenty- eight hundred dollars.

Last but by no means least is this wonder of crafting and bedazzlement, made by one Frédérique Lombard Morel, who is also the genius behind the above- mentioned candleholder. If I was a nasty, catty person, I would immediately label this "effort" Tom Binns manqué: wannabe, but can't quite make it there. Frédérique, I sure do hope you are a sterling piece of French ass, because there is no way you'll be able to sell this pile of crap at two thousand, one hundred forty-five dollars except by bewitching some gaga young banker who wishes to get into your pants.
But hey, that perfume counter gig at Galerie Lafayette will always be there!

AUdiO fIle

I wonder if there is anyone out there who gets as addlepated about bad sound as I do... I just rushed down to Office Max to get what I thought was a deal on a Phillips speaker system with subwoofer to replace the speaker systems ( two, but who's counting) that my rabbit, Bathsheba, ate her way through.
I booked through town to get to the store before it closed at 9pm, only to come home and set it up and hear my precious tunes coming through transistor- radio style. I was so pissed: there's nothing worse than music not being given the respect it's due. The luscious Adele as heard through an echoing toilet bowl?? Utterly inappropriate.

Rich, weighty sound with a highly discernible bass backbeat is my drug of choice.
I'm taking the crap back where it belongs tomorrow first thing and those Office Max chuckleheads better have a solution, 'cause I'm tight about the whole situation. I mean, damn- I literally ran all the way there. I was out of breath and sweating and I HATE sweating.
Someone's gotta PAY.

a SImpLE cOmPlExItY

In my bedroom, my window shades are imprinted with an image of 10,000 arm Guan Yin, a Chinese goddess known for her incredible kindness and mercy. I love drawing those shades down and seeing her emerge at the end of a long day. There is such peace radiating from her... those arms, open, beckoning, ready to comfort, all prepared to come to your succor, whatever the time or place.

This story was posted on the Wikipedia entry for Guan Yin:

"Another story from the Precious Scroll of Fragrant Mountain describes Guanyin as the daughter of a cruel king who wanted her to marry a wealthy but uncaring man. The story is usually ascribed to the research of the Buddhist monk Chiang Chih-ch'i in 1100 CE. Chiang Chih-ch'i, when he penned the work, believed that the Guanyin we know today was actually a Buddhist princess called Miao Shan (妙善), who had a religious following on Fragrant Mountain.

According to the story, after the king asked his daughter Miao Shan to marry the wealthy man, she told him that she would obey his command, so long as the marriage eased three misfortunes.

The king asked his daughter what were the three misfortunes that the marriage should ease. Miao Shan explained that the first misfortune the marriage should ease was the suffering people endure as they age. The second misfortune it should ease was the suffering people endure when they fall ill. The third misfortune it should ease was the suffering caused by death. If the marriage could not ease any of the above, then she would rather retire to a life of religion forever.

When her father asked who could ease all the above, Miao Shan pointed out that a doctor was able to do all these.

Her father grew angry as he wanted her to marry a person of power and wealth, not a healer. He forced her into hard labor and reduced her food and drink but this did not cause her to yield.

Every day she begged to be able to enter a temple and become a nun instead of marrying. Her father eventually allowed her to work in the temple, but asked the monks to give her very hard chores in order to discourage her. The monks forced Miao Shan to work all day and all night, while others slept, in order to finish her work. However, she was such a good person that the animals living around the temple began to help her with her chores. Her father, seeing this, became so frustrated that he attempted to burn down the temple. Miao Shan put out the fire with her bare hands and suffered no burns. Now struck with fear, her father ordered her to be put to death.

When she was executed, a supernatural tiger took Guanyin to one of the more hell-like realms of the dead. However, instead of being punished by demons like the other inmates, Guanyin played music and flowers blossomed around her. This completely surprised the head demon. The story says that Guanyin, by merely being in that hell, turned it into a paradise."

The name Guan Yin means "observing the cries of the world". 

I look at her a lot, as I lie in bed. I almost feel that she has her arms around me: comforting, though silly. I also feel serenity in the process of drawing the blinds, and wonder in observing the mechanism operating them. It's such a simple thing: the cords go through a metal holder. You pull the cord to the left to bring them down and to the right when you want them to hold where they are. But if the cords are tangled, or twisted in any way, it won't work. It's an ingenious mechanism, truly, but if you don't pay attention, if you get too caught up, it can easily cease to work.

Each night I'm reminded to pause, to think, by this simple operation. 

Every night, it reminds me of the machinations of life, and the breath of clarity it takes to overcome them.

RANDOM BLOGSHOT, Fri Sep 3, 2010, Great Barrington, MA

WiLlfUl Ignorance

Apparently there is this conservative blogger, Pamela Geller- her blog is called Atlas Shrugs- who is one of the cornerstones of the movement to deny American Muslims a house of worship anywhere near Ground Zero. She has also put it about that President Barack Obama is the illegitimate son of Malcolm X.

When did we start giving illiterate people airtime? When did people who don't seem to read or have even a 3rd grade education assume the ability to attract rabid followers who themselves don't check the facts??

Stupidity is indeed the new black and I feel like I am in a real, live, Terry Gilliam movie.