Happenings

I have to write this quickly because I need to get ready for dance practice ahead of the Sultan's Feast belly dance show, which is one of the reasons I haven't been posting much lately, but there are some things you should know:

1. I'm hard at work on some rewrites on my novel after getting feedback from a judge at the Writers League of Texas competition this year. I aim to get this round finished by Aug. 1.

2. My friends Chasca released a new CD and you can find it on Spotify! Or be amazing and order it from Chasca's website. Here's my very favorite Chasca song on Soundcloud: Barbarian. Dig those drums! And everything else!

3. We had a catastrophic flood here in San Marcos over Memorial Day weekend. Like made-national-news-and-was-mentioned-on-the-BBC flood. The National Guard and Red Cross were here. There was a curfew. It was crazy for those of us who didn't lose life, limb or property, but it was devastating for many people in San Marcos and Wimberley. I'll be posting about that and the after-effects soon.

4. The Sultan's Feast, as I mentioned, is coming up July 10 at the San Marcos Activity Center. Dinner and a 2-hour show for $20! Get tickets here at Eventbrite.

And now I'm off!

Business and Busy-Ness

I am so bad at updating ... someday I'll get the hang of posting regularly for more than a few weeks at a time. But since January, I have been legitimately busy, and good things have come of it.

I made another round of revisions to my book manuscript and am letting it sit until June, when I should get feedback from the Writers League of Texas manuscript competition folks and a couple of friends. After that, I edited the manuscript for a romance novel that a colleague wrote, and there's reasonable hope that it will get picked up by one of the big romance publishing houses.

Now I'm learning HTML and CSS so that I can eventually design my own web page. (Yay!)

And, in my quest to get on stage at least 10 times this year, and out of my love for sharing my poetry with people who normally wouldn't give a damn about poetry, I'm going to be performing more regularly at the Triple Crown Open Mic on Sunday nights.

Between all this, I found out that my writing is gaining appreciation in Singapore, San Francisco and San Marcos. "The Soft Burden," the essay I posted here several months ago about the very odd family heirloom I'll be inheriting and all that it entails, was one of six finalists in the nonfiction category at the San Francisco Writers Conference contest this year. A poem I wrote about the same subject matter was published in Issue 3 of Junoesq, a Singapore-based literary journal for women. My blog post on the Just For Fun Parade from last April will be reprinted in the April edition of SMTX Magazine here in San Marcos. (I won't link back to that blog post here because it'll look so awesome in print, you should read it in the magazine when it comes out.)

And even with all this writing stuff going on, there is still the dance. I performed my first drum solo, choreographed by myself with help from my teacher Jamie Lynn, in February at Euro Cafe. It was terrifying, but I made it through and apparently did a pretty good job, and I hope to be able to perform it again soon -- if not here in town then at another venue. I'm currently in the middle of the 90-Day Belly Dance Challenge organized by Alia Thabit. It requires at least 20 minutes of improvisational dancing for 90 days. It's been an eye-opening experience thus far and I'm glad to have found something to get me in the habit of dancing without a plan.

Meanwhile, a bunch of my friends have been busy, too. Last weekend was the surprise party and fund-raiser for Christopher Paul Cardoza, the photographer who moved here just a couple of years ago and has done so much to document and promote the San Marcos live music scene, particularly the shows at Triple Crown. And now, with South By Southwest going on just up the road in Austin, many of our local bands are showing an international audience how we do things down here. Chasca, 4orms and Ghosts of Dixie are just a few of the local bands playing official or unofficial SXSW shows this week and I'm super proud of all of them and glad to call them my friends.

Spring is springing here in our happy little village, and everything is coming to life!

People and music and San Martian stuff

Summer was a pretty rollicking season around here. San Marcos had its first Pride Weekend, and I am glad to know a few of the people involved in making that happen. In an inevitable display of small-town charm, the Pride Weekend festivities included a drag show at the VFW Hall. Here are a couple of pics from the parade downtown:

Some cops escorted the parade, some were in the parade

The Sun God shows his support

Though I don't have photos, I mentioned in a previous blog post that my friend Dave Shelton has been studying and giving workshops on the Nordic Runes and the subconscious. He has a great blog called Thorsdaeink.

And I promised pics of some of the bands I have been out to see over the past few months, so here they are. Most are from San Marcos, and all are spectacular. I've put links to Facebook pages and websites in the captions so you can find out more about these talented folks.

Molly J. Hayes of San Marcos, with her heartfelt singer-songwriter sounds

Conway the Whale, another local act offering impassioned folk

Captain M.A. Zing, yet another San Martian,
offering catchy rock from another planet
(with special guest percussionist on the suitcase)

Two-fifths of Chasca, San Marcos' local glam band, at their Halloween show

Brokestring and the Empty Promises, more tasty folk music
from San Marcos

Three-fifths of Chasca, San Marcos' local glam band,
at their Halloween show

San Marcos' melodic folk duo 4orms
on Halloween with special guest Armando on drums

Armando behind the drums again, this time
with the very rockin' Adrian in Austin over the summer

"Pics or it didn't happen": Being present in the age of the selfie

Note: Hahaha! One person answered my poll question, so no more poll questions for a while. That person said they post pictures of stuff online sometimes.

Last weekend I went out to see my favorite band of the decade, Chasca. They're a glam band, they're local, I know all the guys personally, and I have a deep affection for each of them. They play at a bar called the Triple Crown here in town about once a month, and there's a regular crowd of friends and fans that you can count on seeing at every show -- delightful and colorful folks that I'm happy to know. It's less like a show at a dive bar and more like a party where I know I'm going to find old friends and make new ones.

As always, at their show last Saturday I had a blast. The opening bands were all great, I was dressed up in a belly dance costume, everyone I met was really friendly, there was much hugging and mingling and dancing and sweating and singing along ...

and I forgot to take pictures.

I was having such a good time I completely forgot to let my phone and its camera get between the fun and my face.

(L-R) Ian, JT and Junior of Chasca
at a show a few months back

Normally I do share a lot of stuff on Facebook and some on Twitter (I have an Instagram account but I never use it). I take pictures of food if it's particularly pretty, or if it's the first time I've cooked a particular dish. I take pictures of weird things I see on the roadside or at the grocery store. I take pictures at parties and concerts, too, but I started noticing when I went to a concert about six weeks ago that while I was taking pictures, I wasn't really paying attention to the music, and that's why I was there in the first place -- to be in the presence of music I love, not to document for posterity that I go to rock shows. And while I was trying to get a decent shot of a bunch of musicians in motion under strange lighting, I wasn't really in the moment. I had traded my own focus for my camera's focus.

My disenchantment with photographing everything became complete at the Texas Wild Rice Festival earlier this month, when I saw three women standing in the river together taking a selfie. One, it seemed kinda stupid to have a fancy phone in the water. Two, the river is such a pleasant and sacred place to be, especially with friends, I couldn't understand why they weren't just enjoying being there together.

Maybe they were having a great time and just took a brief pause to capture it. But this is the age of the selfie, a strange period in the course of human relations characterized by the saying, "Pics or it didn't happen."

(L-R) "The Seans" (Sean Hannon and Sean Palmer) and JT of Chasca --
again, from a few months back

I suppose it has to do with how we communicate with each other now -- social media and mass communication make it easy to just take a photo and share it with everyone instead of telling everyone we know a story about some cool or interesting thing we were a part of. But I can't help thinking that sometimes it's healthy to exchange those thousand words that a picture is standing in for -- take time to talk, and listen, to each other, like people used to do before technology made it possible for us to let 500 people, some of whom we've never actually met, know what our breakfast looks like.

A recent study indicated that photographing something makes you less likely to remember it in the short term. Part of me wonders if that's the case because when you stop to take a picture, you're no longer in the moment. You have to step outside of whatever's going on to become an observer of the situation instead of a participant in the situation. It's a violation of the simple rule, "Be where you are."

So be where you are! Sure, take a photo, but be fully present as much as you can so you'll remember it, feel it, and have a great story to accompany the photo. Life isn't just a bunch of pixels -- it's breath and sweat and laughter and real human interaction. Enjoy it!

I'm grateful that I was able to really be at the Chasca show this past weekend, because it was far more fun to have conversations with old friends and new acquaintances, get hugged, dance, sing and jump around than to spend an inordinate amount of time messing around with my phone's camera. And as a bonus, the night I didn't stop having fun long enough to take a picture of it, there were three or four professional photographers there, shooting photos and video. Here are my friends:



(And at about 1:45 you can see me in the background in a belly dance costume -- so even though I have no photos of my own, I got documented that night anyway!)

Loving Your Art: The Parable of the Texas Playboys

Note: Seven people answered my poll question about making time for creative endeavors. Six respondents said they made time but not as much as they would like, and one respondent was too busy with other responsibilities. See the results here.

When you were in high school, what did you want to do when you grew up? Are you doing anything like it now?

I am fortunate to live in a town full of musicians. And it's a small town, so most of us have known each other for decades and support each other's endeavors. A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with a friend I've known since fourth grade. We were at a bar where his band had just played, and a band with some other old school friends in it were preparing for their sound check. My friend commented that even when we were teenagers, all of us school chums were somehow involved in making music – whether in the school marching band or choir or after-school jam sessions with friends – and that we knew back then what it was we were supposed to be doing in life. My friend said, "And I'm going to keep doing it until they just won't let me do it anymore. If there's a maximum age, I guess I'm screwed."

The Texas Playboys Reunion, 2011

I thought for a second and asked him, "What about the Texas Playboys?"

Our home town hosts an annual Western Swing festival every spring, and for many years, members of the Texas Playboys, the famous band once led by Bob Wills, held a reunion show during the festival. Of all the musical events in town, that was the one show I never missed. I always loved watching men (and one woman) in their 70s and 80s up on stage playing music as deftly and joyfully as those of us in our 30s and 40s do. I told my friend, "If there's a maximum age, I haven't seen it yet."

My take on creativity is this: Without ascribing any particular religious or spiritual name to it, whatever power made the universe wants to continue making, and remaking, and it uses our hands to do it. Sometimes the energy takes over completely, as in the story of Laurence Olivier, who after receiving praise for a stunning performance on the stage reportedly said, "I know it was great, damn it, but I don't know how I did it!" Other times, the artist has more conscious control over the product, but it takes some kind of inspiration or urge to form experience, emotion and imagination into something for the rest of the world to see. Practice hones an artist's skill so that when the inspiration comes, the artist is more adept at translating it into a shareable work of art.

Creative energy is a boundless force accessible to anyone who remains open to it. And my friend was right -- when we were younger, we easily tapped into that energy as musicians. Before the demands of "real life" set in, you have more time and space to express and explore. But eventually, we all write resumes instead of short stories or make budget spreadsheets instead of sheet music, and we can get closed off from our creative power. Of all the artistic types I know, most work uneventful jobs, many are married with children, but rather than choke on the pabulum of day-to-day life, they remain open to their creativity because they love it. And in a world where wealth and status are glorified, doing something for love is a transcendent act.

It's no small accomplishment to become a responsible adult but remain as enamored with, and devoted to, artistic endeavors as you were when you were young. Which is why the Texas Playboys encourage me, and why I mentioned them to my friend: If people twice our age can joyfully let the music flow through them, there's hope that the rest of us will never find out what the "maximum age" for creativity might be. If you're not doing what you wanted to do when you grew up, it's not too late to start. Here's some proof:

Willkommen, bienvenu, welcome, come on in!

This blog marks my return to online writing after a long break to do a bunch of stuff that it turns out wasn't that important after all. It seemed important, but I am a writer, and I can't fight my own nature. You have to pursue whatever it is that speaks to you, right? And what's speaking to me right now is the urge to start discussions about things that uplift the spirit. I would say that this is a blog about "conscious living," but that term is a very big umbrella for subjects ranging from social justice to dietary choices. There will be some of that, but there will also be poetry, music, art, nature, and stories of people coming together for a purpose. There will be jokes. There will be cat pictures. There will be belly dancing. There will be rock-n-roll. There will probably be a lot of rock-n-roll.

Some posts will be more personal, some posts will be more general. Some may have a religious or spiritual tone, others may have a scientific tone. Don't expect politics, because although I am politically active I believe that any society ruled by broken and unhappy people will become broken and unhappy, and thus it is more important to focus on people finding joy in this world and becoming – or remaining -- whole.

In a way, this blog will be an ongoing statement of my personal manifesto, which I hope will resonate with other people. As the blog name implies, I believe that living is a process by which we can grow from mundane creatures into something precious and powerful. I believe in the overarching life mission of living in this world without letting it turn me into a mean, contemptible person. I believe in following one's passion. I believe in helping and inspiring others, and I hope this blog will be a part of that. I hope to get discussions and thought processes going with my posts as well as some polls, and comments are always welcome. 

And now, a public service announcement from Bob Marley: