positive values [of living] from buddha to biggie+all the dada blah de bla in between.

a (slightly modified) excerpt of my last email to my parents:

subject:

1/2 the 10 commandments/buddha/existentialism/greek myths/rock'n'roll=quotes to illustrate how i'm seeing now.

i love you and thank you for this life.

xo

bzers

*every day in every way, we get better and better-dad/gramps.....

**you are my sunshine, my only sunshine-mom...

***i think i can, i think i can, i think i can-thomas the steam engine/dad......

****la de da la de da la de da-annie hall....

*****fly like an eagle-steve miller....

“‘Where are we going, man?’
‘I don’t know but we gotta go.’”
Jack Kerouac’s On the Road

FROM THE 10 COMMANDMENTS...

(exactly half-no lord but mother nature for me, personally.)

5. 'Honor your father and your mother.'

6. 'You shall not murder.'

7. 'You shall not commit adultery.'

8.You shall not steal.'

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

THUS: (PRINCIPLE EXTRACTED)

**treat others as you want others to treat you**

"Yo soy yo y mis circunstancias"

("I am myself and my circumstances").

Ortega y Gasset, 1914

"One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."
— Simone de Beauvoir (The Second Sex)

what I am trying to do is capture the soul or aura of the subject rather than the subject itself...

--rinko kawauchi

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. "
-Henry Ward Beecher, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit, 1887

every wakeful step, every mindful act is the direct path to awakening.

-buddha

Wherever you go, there you are.

-buddha

I want to be famous for falling in love.

-cass mccombs

we were born before the wind.

-van Morrison

Mystery of mysteries, water and air are right there before us in the sea. Every time I view the sea, I feel a calming sense of security, as if visiting my ancestral home; I embark on a voyage of seeing.

-sugimoto (on seascapes)

"Some things I loved have vanished. A great many others have been given to me"
— Simone de Beauvoir (The Woman Destroyed)

life is as fleeting as a rainbow, a flash of lightning, a star at dawn.

Knowing this, how can you quarrel?

-buddha

we are not independent but interdependent.

-buddha

"I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself "
— Simone de Beauvoir

a strange thing happened: as men lifted their eyes from the ground and watched the smoke from their fires spiraling upward, their thoughts rose with it up to the heavens. They began to wonder and think, and were no longer earth-bound clods.

-prometheus bringing fire down to the mortals/greek myths

zeus put insatiable curiosity into pandora’s box.When she opened it-out swarmed a horde of miseries: greed, vanity, slander, envy and all the evils that until then had been unknown to mankind. Horrified by what she had done, Pandora clapped the lid on, just in time to keep hope from flying away too.

Eos, gentle dawn, was the mother of the four winds. While all creation slept, she rose from her pink pillows to announce the coming of a new day…all nature awoke, rejoicing to see her. ....But eos stayed rosy+young, always a joy to behold when she came out to wake her brother, the sun.

Selene, the moon, came out at night to light up the world while her brother helio slept……saw endymion and granted him eternal sleep..to dream always of the moon in his arms.

Laughing nymphs and bleating satyrs danced to the music of pan, god of nature, master of them all.

Though we often live unconsciously, “on automatic pilot,” every one of us can learn to be awake. It just takes practice.

-buddha

through our senses the world appears. Through our reactions we create delusions. Without reactions the world becomes clear.

-buddha

it is not our preferences that cause problems but our attachment to them.

-buddha

"I am incapable of conceiving infinity and yet I do not accept finity."
— Simone de Beauvoir

if you do not care for each other, who will care for you?

-buddha

"One's life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, and compassion"
— Simone de Beauvoir

not getting what you desire and getting what you desire can both be disappointing.

-buddha

that which is timeless is now.

-buddha

the trouble is you think you have time.

-buddha

whatever we cultivate in times of ease, we gather as strength in times of change.

-buddha

learn to respond not to react.

-buddha

"I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom."
— Simone de Beauvoir

no matter how difficult the past, you can always begin again today.

-buddha

we do not need more knowledge but more wisdom.

Wisdom comes from our own attention.

-buddha

as you travel through life, offer good wishes to each being you meet.

-buddha

just as driving on the right side of the road gives us the freesome to go anywhere, so accepting the natural law of constant chance is our route to freedom.

-buddha

whatever path of action you find brings food and happiness to all, follow this way like the moon in the path of the stars.

In wisdom be a lamp, a light unto yourself.

-buddha

Every life has a measure of sorrow. Sometimes it is this that awakens us.

-buddha

At the bottom of things, most people want to be understood and appreciated.

-buddha

Life lives on life. We all eat and are eaten. When we forget this we cry, when we remember this, we can nourish each other.

-buddha

If you take care of each moment, you will take care of all time.

-buddha

If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind on your face and the warm sun on your hand.

-buddha

THOSE WHO ARE AWAKE LIVE IN A STATE OF CONSTANT AMAZEMENT.

-buddha

People often say that I have a child’s eye. For example, I stare at ants gathering around sugar, or when I seek shelter from the rain, I gaze upon snails. These are things which you often do when you are a child aren’t they? I have a very similar sensibility to that.

I prefer listening to the small voices in our world, those which whisper. I have a feeling I am always being saved by these whispers, my eyes naturally focus on small things.

-rinko kawauchi

"My life was hurrying, racing tragically toward its end. And yet at the same time it was dripping so slowly, so very slowly now, hour by hour, minute by minute. One always has to wait until the sugar melts, the memory dies, the wound scars over, the sun sets, the unhappiness lifts and fades away."
— Simone de Beauvoir (The Woman Destroyed)

Do not seek perfection in a changing world. Instead perfect your love.

-buddha

Simplicity brings more happiness than complexity.

-buddha

whoever sees truth sees Buddha.

-buddha

If you can’t find the truth right where you are, where else do you think you will find it?

----from alec soths old blog----

THE FLOODED GRAVE

(after a photograph by Jeff Wall)
by Graham Foust

In what’s become this room
we are hostless
for the most part.

There is infinite glitter.
There is earth.

An open grave,
let’s say–not automatically
horrific–or
the not saying “raining”
in what is now this room.

We tune and we fade,
not undetermined upon bloom.

We shatter that way.
We don’t and then we do.

Retarded Artifact
by Graham Foust

Give me reasons not to be
oblivion, irony.
Like something in Wisconsin,
I am all the dirt I know.
Having come to in someone
else’s boredom, I’m alive—
and it’s an all-new boredom,
a boredom of cathedral
proportion. Empty as folk,
I just make up, make over
everything. Lately, I don’t
even want a piece of me.

I have a very strong collecting gene ...'

-martin parr

+i added these references for y'all who will get it all the way.**********

Now who would think that your best friend
Would be your worst enemy and your enemy your best friend.
Stare into the air inspiration from the atmosphere
I think of old ghosts, that ain't even here.

-family business/fugees

Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather
Women, and the weed -- sticky green
No seeds bitch please, Poppa ain't soft
Dead up in the Hood, ain't no love lost
Got me mixed up, you drunk them licks up
Mad cause I got my dick sucked
and my balls licked, forfeit, the game is mine
I'ma spell my name one more time, check it
Its the, N-O, T-O, R-I, O
U-S, you just, lay down, slow
Recognize a real Don when you see Juan/one
Sippin on booze in the House of Blues

I'm going going, back back, to Cali Cali

if I got to choose a coast I got to choose the East
I live out there, so don't go there
But that don't mean a nigga can't rest in the West
See some nice breasts in the West
Smoke some nice sess in the West, y'all niggaz is a mess...

--biggie smalls/NOTORIOUS: 1997

Spend my days with a woman unkind
Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine
Made up my mind, make a new start
Goin' to California with an achin' in my heart
Someone told me there's a girl out there
With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair

Took my chances on a big jet-plane
Never let 'em tell ya that they're aw-ooh-all the same
Hoh, the sea was red and the sky was grey
I wonder how tomorrow could ever follow today-hee
Mountains and the canyons start to tremble and shake
The children of the sun begin to awake
Now
Watch out

It seems that the wrath of the gods got a punch on the nose
And it's startin' to flow, I think I might be sinkin'
Throw me a line, if I reach it in time
Meet you up there where the path runs straight and high

Find a queen without a king
They say she plays guitar and cries and sings, la-la-la-la
Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn
Tryin' to find a woman who's never, never, never been born
Standin' on a hill in the mountain of dreams
Tellin' myself it's not as hard, hard, hard as it seems

GOING TO CALIFORNIA/1971

Led zeppelin

so there you go...

(if you managed to get this far:)

is, in a color-coded-virtual-nutshell, a bit of my philosophy as an artist+a (mostly) conscious individual..

RE: buddha+dada+bob dylan+simone de beauvoir+bob dylan+led zeppelin+jesus+kurt cobain+sugimoto+sartre+kerouac+parr+allen+baroness elsa+frank lloyd wright+kawauchi+janis joplin

i consumed your trail of tears under the dim dark star.

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43.i've read both watch for me on the mountain and the education of little tree in the last few weeks and couldn't recommend them more. while the history+plight of the native americans is completely fascinating, it is also terribly, horribly depressing....wherein lies the heartbreaking beauty of these stories..
watch for me on the mountain is a fictionalized account of geronimo, the apache war shaman, embroiled in a lifelong battle for the land of his people against the land hungry spanish, mexican and american settlers; while the education of little tree is an (alleged but contested) autobiographic novel about an orphaned boy sent to live with his cherokee grandparents during the depression. both books are written by the charming story teller (+controversial figure), forrest carter, who conveys the beauty, heartbreak and enduring spirit of the native american people with utter grace+a tone that provokes empathy. (full disclosure: i cried for the last 50 odd pages of little tree.)

in conclusion, i was massively inspired by these books, and the above imagery is the result of my nonlinear aesthetic brainstorm..

1. elisabeth lecourt map dress: sourced from the lovely blog of the like-minded lass ria leigh rabut*
2. painted skull by gabriel orozco at MOMA: sourced from things we heart.. (thanks to katharine for the heads up--harhar-- on the artist's name!)
3. miranda july by autumn de wilde
4. dries van noten sunnies
5. vintage mocassins at fort tumbleweed
6. it could be worse: (can't remember who's tumblr this was from)
7. watch for me on the mountain
8. mystical mama: ria*
9. risto bimbiloski lightning dress
10. hilary pecis collage
11. early day sioux war club:"seed beaded skull cracker war club with horsehair drop. cheyenne river area of south dakota."
12. risto bimbiloski galaxy pants
13. mystical smoke bomb foto: (can't recall the source)
14. epic vintage roach rainbow headdress
15. watercolor
16. henry vibskov laptop case
17. maurizio anzeri embroidered portraits
18. brian beluga rainbow rocks: sourced from MANY**
19. christian louboutin greissimo peeptoe (rhymes with geronimo, no?) rarely do i actually want a pair of lady heels but these, yes please.
20. vintage beaded medicine stick with antler and eagle feathers
21. navajo rug from the 1920's
22. (poor execution on the whole ensemble but) badass idea for incorporating dream catchers on the daily: sourced from yvan rodick
23. clip art dreamcatcher wolf (which i shrinky dinked on last months ladies craft night)
24. tattoo inspiration
25. the war shaman geronimo
26. eddie borgo cone bracelet
27. absolute urban warrior genius: risto bimbiloski chainmail jumpsuit (sad it was styled with the trench)
28. caroline bénech nude
29. apache girl. 1908
30. the education of little tree
31. seneca ghosts by danielle mericle : sourced at MANY**
32. sarah hermans**
33. apache girl by curtis. 1903.
34. wendy nichols horsehair necklace
35. pelle crépin: sourced from nada mas
36. pelle crépin
37. the arch by michel de broin
38. superficial by michel de broin *
39. blah blah wall paper *
40. david luraschi**
41. geronimo at age 78. 1906
42. superficielle by michel de broin *
43. ed panar **

he kept a firefly in a jar+i really loved that.

presenting: jennilee marigomen's captures.

overcome with keen.

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22.here is a sampling of what i'm looking at these days as inspiration for game on, studio time.

1. i don't know where this picture came from but it sure makes me glad.
2-4. lina cheynius makes me wish i was swedish...i'm gonna do another post with more of her work soon.
5-9. monica canilao is beyondbeyond. words can't even describe how much her work inspires me to be better at what i do...+on top of her mad skills, she's a badass-look at her with that headress-so good-i feel like her life is just full of dreamcatchers+quilting+fur pelts...oh, the california life i never led. (will post more of her epic-ness soooon!)
10. the golden mean..cedez+i were gonna get this tatoo-ed for our 30th but we got too tired, one day..
11. jackie young is one of ADF's talented texas-based buddies, who i had the pleasure of meeting at marlow this summer.
12. here
13. lotte scott's flickr (found through audrey hepburn complex's photo inspiration blog-which i found thru lisa butterworth's blog)
14. now, i may be partial to this due to the subject (mi senor)+the shooter (the tiny+talented jacqueline dimilia).. i love him+her but regardless she captured the big sur river moment oh so perfectly.
15. one of my favorite photographers from our instant show, the always dapper+delightful grant worth shot this polaroid on his recent (swine flu masks included) trip to china.
16. everyone's favorite suburban chicago sweetie, miss tavi, took this woodsy gnome self portrait--i have yet to get her permission as is clearly stated but i'm hoping she won't be mad..(hiiii tavi! so good to finally meet you while you were here..)
17. found thru aforementioned photo inspiration blog but actually from a=m's flickr.
18. we were blessed with a beautiful day for a road trip up the coast of spain..me by the one+only xabier tudela.
19-20. like monica, sarah moli newton applebaum's work is reminding me to get a working sewing machine PRONTO..i've got so much quilting to do..
21. oh, nothing-just some a-door-bell sketches by my friend samantha pleet for our friends at dossier magazine.
22. +lastly, i end with a duh. who can get enough of vintage kate+johnny..sourced from rebecca minkoff's blog.

yowza, those links sure took awhile (+for some reason they're all annoyingly underlined but i can't seem to change it)....anyhoo, i hope you enjoy these visual delights as much as i do..
buenas noches
xL