Hello SG world, it's the day of the largest full moon in like 2 decades, make sure you get out to see it tonight!

Well I went! Oh my goodness, yes I fucking went! And it was glorious, life changing, blew the top right off of my frickin' head, EPIC TRIP!!!!! Ok, so first things first, I mentioned the tattoo before I left, well here it is:



General Design-ME! Actual genius artwork with a needle and ink-Mokomae



The trip was epic as I mentioned, 150 of us coming together as a tribal community on the windward side of a volcano on the most remote inhabited island on earth...oh and btw, there was this teeny thing called a solar eclipse halfway through our stay....




and after we built the dance floor, showers/bathrooms, and stage, we were ready for a festival!




Never far from sight or our minds were the Moai, one of the more dominant features of the island...they radiate a mysterious aura that is palpable...


Here are two videos that give you more of a feel for where I was...
more later.....ciao

I'm going here in 2010:




and while I'm there, I'm going to get one of these two designs as a tattoo:





wahoooooooooo! Here I come Rapa Nui!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So today was the regional training session in DC for volunteers for Tap Project 2009, or in this case DC Tap. I volunteered on their website earlier this month and then was contacted by the City Coordinator for DC. He recruited me to be the Neighborhood Coordinator for Montgomery County. So I'll be the liason for all of the volunteers in the county as well as recruiting some restaurants myself. For those of you who aren't aware of the project, Tap Project is where restaurants across the country will offer their patrons the option to pay $1 for the tap water they would normally receive for free. This happens only during one week, March 22nd - 28th. March 22nd is World Water Day, a day established in 2007 by UNICEF to bring attention to the water crisis that exists in much of the world.

Some very bleak facts:
Every 20 seconds a child dies from water-related disease
4200 children die every day from lack of clean water
Water-related disease is the number 2 killer of children worldwide

Some encouraging facts:
$1 can provide clean drinking water for 1 person for 40 days or 40 people for 1 day
You can save a life just by dining out at a participating restaurant during the week of 3/22-3/28 and donating a dollar for your tap water

Watch the video:


If you want to do more than just donate your $1, go to
Tap Project 2009 and get involved.

Ok, so now for something completely the same....a real post.
I wiling away another Saturday just tooling around the net when I could be doing something productive, but I'm feeling lazy.

I was planning on going to see an old high school buddies band play tonight, but it is just too much of a struggle for me to physically get there. I lost my liscense a few years back due to multiple DWI's and haven't gotten off my ass to get it back yet. It's kind of cool that I can manage to get to work each day (a two hour commute on public trans when I don't cave and take a cab) and otherwise get around in general without too much trouble, but it's times like this when I wonder why O why haven't I taken care of this yet? I know part of it is just loathing the idea of facing any type of legal hassle after four to five years of constant legal hassles because of my drinking related bullshit, but that can't be all of it.

Some of it is just plain procrastination, but to have put it off this long is borderline nuts. Anyhow, I suppose I'll get off my butt at some point and take the necessary steps to get it back. So instead going to see my buddies band I'll probably hang out with some friends that are geographically closer to me and make plans to see his next gig which is much more conviently located given my transportation limitations. I have been pretty excited over reconnecting with some old high school friends through facebook

and it inspired me to reach out for some others that I've blown off over the years. It feels good to make the effort as that was not something I really did much of previously.

So now that I've bored you to tears, I'm off to get myself ready to join some friends for dinner

This song fucking rocks!



THAT IS ALL

Welcome to 2009!
I have every reason to believe it will be a great year for me, and I intend to work hard to make it so. I am not going to post about any cause, or spiritual enlightenment today, but instead to ask a question. I have no tattoos and I have always (well for the past 10 years or so) wanted one. I could never think of/find/create an image that I liked enough to wear permanently on my body. I think that I have found one that I can love having, it is the Ouroborous. Here are three versions, but I am thinking of maybe a tribal one instead, or trying to find an artist whose work I really like and asking him/her to design one for me.





Tell me what you think!!

Happy New Year!!!
Are you making resolutions this year?

I am not making resolutions, but instead making plans -

My Plans Include:

-Volunteer for Tap Project by UNICEF (already have started that process)
-Raise money for a well/pump in Africa
-Continue to educate myself in terms of the best way to affect change in the parts of the world most devasted by Poverty including possibly relocating to live and work in one or more of those countries
-Change my own behavior to lessen my negative impact on the Earth
-Educate myself on the best way for me to get involved in Environmental Conservation in a very tangible way with measurable results
-Get involved in Environmental Conservation
-Quit Smoking
-Go Sky Diving

So if you have read any of my other posts, you may have picked up on the fact that I recently developed a social conscience. I guess I should say redeveloped as I had one at one time, then seemed to grow out of it. I managed to somehow spend most of my adult life concerned with me, things which affected me, and those in my life, to the exclusion of all else. That has changed, and significantly. Politics are what started the spin for me, that quickly spun into social issues and spirituality. The outward spiral of awareness and almost child-like excitement that I'm in the grips of now has gained its own perpetual momentum and I believe strongly that it represents a growth pattern in myself that will continue for the rest of my life. Pretty wild huh? I think so. So as far as the Social Conscience stuff, I've already registered to volunteer for one program Tap Project and donated money to another I believe in zero as well as checked in to a number of overseas commitments that would allow me to help in a much more hands on way Cross-Cultural Solutions


In terms of the spiritual progression, I'm studying Buddhism right now. I was born the son of Preacher Man, as the song goes, Episcopalian by denomination, so I'm pretty familiar with the Christianity I was raised with. I plan to study as many of the worlds religions as I can for educational benefit but also to glean the spiritual side of things from as many different perspectives as possible. I'm remaining open minded, hell I will even give Wicca a try!

On the political front, I was raised Liberal, but in my late twenties and early thirties found myself on the other side of the aisle as a Conservative. That was the beginning of my self absorbed period. Trying to earn more and more money, and not wanting anyone to take any from me for any reason, fueled my political views for the most part. So when I finally became very apathetic about the whole system, (It is corrupt, everyone lies, says whatever just to get elected, might have had good intentions going in, but had to make so many compromises to stay in power, etc, etc, etc. ) I even stopped voting. Then with this last election I noticed the younger people in the country got really excited. It reminded me of what I had read about college kids in the 60s. Nothing quite as radical as those days, but still, the energy was similar. That caught my eye and I started listening. This was really about the time of the election and then right after. I decided that I would re-examine my political beliefs along with everything else. So it's all tied together nicely. I definitely am sitting way left of center right now which is amazing considering that I was just right of center not six months ago and you could never have convinced me that I would change.

Anyhow, that is where I am. So I'll use this space to update anyone interested on what I find on my 'quest for thruth'. Sounds hokey I know, but it is a fair description of what is going on with me. So now that I've bored you to tears, here are a few pics to entertain you:

My dog Bo. Give me a break on his name, it took me six months to come up with that. He was 'dogboy' for the longest time.


This is my friend Amie with a bit of graphical enhancement on my part



This is Amie again, I had fun with this one in Photoshop. She would make a great SG doncha think?

Until next time,
vicariously