Sorry, it's been way too long since I last updated.

I just returned from the most relaxing spa experience at my friend's place down the road.
Her home-made spa, built of found desert rocks, heats up by way of a 'snorkel stove'
(underwater wood burning stove). I built the fire about 4 hours ahead of time, so by
the time we had digested our amazing meal of stuffed spaghetti squash, toasted quinoa, and
swiss chard, it was a piping hot 108 degrees. It takes a strong will to get in there, but
once you get over the initial shock, it's amazing. We put fresh eucalyptus branches,
fresh rosemary springs, and lavender oil in the water. We also use hydrogen peroxide
to sanitize it, instead of chlorine, which is toxic. And the peroxide oxygenates your skin.

When the heat gets too much to bear, we dive into the adjacent cold rockpool.
The hot-cold contrast is extremely invigorating, and after a couple cycles back and
forth, you'll feel amazingly relaxed.

Life here is so good....

....I had a freaky "desert double" (what high desert folk call a cosmic synchronicity) last
week when Antigone came out here to shoot with me. Antigone, Crusader1991, and I rode out to a very remote location, a lost-to-time place that would be perfect for the theme we planned.
After completing our work, we packed up and were getting ready to get back in the car and return.
But before we did, Antigone asked me if I'd ever seen a scorpion in the desert where I live.
I said "No, I actually haven't" - then remembering the one that I had seen, a couple years ago,
I added "Well I saw one huge one in my friend's garage, but it was so still it might have been dead".
Then Crusader1991 told his scary scorpion experience (falling asleep reading and
finding one under the book on his chest), we remarked at how freaky that would be,
and got in the car and headed home.
They dropped me off at my house, and I went to a band rehearsal and was gone for a couple
hours. When I returned, I began transferring the...

Sorry, it's been way too long since I last updated.

I just returned from the most relaxing spa experience at my friend's place down the road.
Her home-made spa, built of found desert rocks, heats up by way of a 'snorkel stove'
(underwater wood burning stove). I built the fire about 4 hours ahead of time, so by
the time we had digested our amazing meal of stuffed spaghetti squash, toasted quinoa, and
swiss chard, it was a piping hot 108 degrees. It takes a strong will to get in there, but
once you get over the initial shock, it's amazing. We put fresh eucalyptus branches,
fresh rosemary springs, and lavender oil in the water. We also use hydrogen peroxide
to sanitize it, instead of chlorine, which is toxic. And the peroxide oxygenates your skin.

When the heat gets too much to bear, we dive into the adjacent cold rockpool.
The hot-cold contrast is extremely invigorating, and after a couple cycles back and
forth, you'll feel amazingly relaxed.

Life here is so good....

....I had a freaky "desert double" (what high desert folk call a cosmic synchronicity) last
week when Antigone came out here to shoot with me. Antigone, Crusader1991, and I rode out to a very remote location, a lost-to-time place that would be perfect for the theme we planned.
After completing our work, we packed up and were getting ready to get back in the car and return.
But before we did, Antigone asked me if I'd ever seen a scorpion in the desert where I live.
I said "No, I actually haven't" - then remembering the one that I had seen, a couple years ago,
I added "Well I saw one huge one in my friend's garage, but it was so still it might have been dead".
Then Crusader1991 told his scary scorpion experience (falling asleep reading and
finding one under the book on his chest), we remarked at how freaky that would be,
and got in the car and headed home.
They dropped me off at my house, and I went to a band rehearsal and was gone for a couple
hours. When I returned, I began transferring the pictures, and was sitting working on that for
about an hour, when I hear this faint scuttling noise behind me. I turn and look to the floor,
and what is crawling across the bamboo mat but a little yellowish-white scorpion. Then
it actually stopped there right next to me, just waiting. It came out from nowhere in the middle of a
brightly-lit room to....show itself to me.

I kind of flipped out.

Not so much at seeing a threatening insect per se, but because of the circumstance.
To me, that is way too cosmically synchronistic to be random chance. Seriously, the only
one I've seen was 2 years ago, and then only hours after being asked about scorpions,
one appears in my house.
I told this story to my neighbor (the one with the rocktub), and her immediate response
was, "The tongue is very powerful!!" She also said the smaller they are, the more
poisonous they are...

I had to kill it. Then afterwards, researching on google, someone suggested you can
move them with tweezers, but... I wasn't taking any chances. I felt bad for a little bit
until another friend told me, "Well...it got a promotion!"
I didn't understand what she meant at first, then it dawned on me - oh, a spiritual
promotion....through this scorpion's highly receptive, evolved consciousness, it was
attracted to the catalyst for the energy change (me, the death-admin) which would
allow it to change to a higher form.
Hehe, maybe.
It's interesting to think about anyway.

Another thing I found while googling "scorpion as symbol" (trying to figure out
the possible significance of this manifestation in my life), is that one element
scorpion symbolizes is "Control".
Which was also oddly coincidental, as the last song that was playing in Crusader1991's car
had a part that kept chanting the word "Control" over and over. (Antigone, what was that band?)

So this has been giving me much food for thought over the next couple weeks, about
control and its nature, and what is an appropriate amount for a person to have, and
what is too much. In general, not having enough control over your life can lead to ruin......as can
the flip side of the coin - grappling for too much control. I think the key is,
controlling *yourself* - YOUR thoughts and actions, and owning responsibility for them,
is the best kind of control.
But a need to control or manipulate other people, and feeling powerless when you can't,
is the unhealthy kind.

At the same time, you don't want to control your own life so much that you leave
no room for spontaneity....that has often been a challenge for me. I love designing
personal programs for myself that are rather rigid, and sticking to them.
I get restless and anxious when anything happens that disrupts those programs, even
if in the back of my mind, I tell myself it must be happening because I needed a break.
---

This is a really cute video; kind of elementary, but an essential concept:



---
Ah, onto lighter chat. I went to the local health food store today and indulged in
the bulk teas and spices... I love cardamon seed right now..... Whenever I wake up in
the home of Roethke (who has a set in Member Review you should check out by the way!),
she always makes this amazing coffee infused with cardamon.... After tasting that, if I could
always have cardamon coffee I would. So now I have finally remembered to buy some.
Also today I got: roasted chicory root (for coffee also), genmaicha green tea (has tasty
dried brown rice in it), lapsang souchong tea (tastes like a smoky campfire....it's an aquired taste..),
yerba mate, maca root powder (Peruvian energy root), and garam masala for a cabbage dish
I've been making, with curried coconut milk sauce.

---

A recent musical discovery I made is a female force of nature named
Ruby Friedman.

We found each other on myspace and felt an instant natural affinity for each other.
She's an amazing talent out of LA, and her songwriting and delivery blew
me away, so I want to share her with you.
If you're in LA, you can catch her at the Hotel Cafe this Sunday August 17th.
Tell her I sent you!


---

Well a wave of exhaustion just came over me. Time for bed.
I leave you with a couple pics I took in Joshua Tree National Park,
the day my wireless remote arrived
in the mail.... Just playing around...








p.s. We may already be myspace friends on my SG photography profile,
but I have one now that's specifically just for Lorelei the model. Would love it
if you friend me there! myspace.com/loreleisuicide