New years and Free Will Astrology!

So, New Years, 06 six-sixteen P.M. eastern standard time. Ten parties to choose from. This is much more severe then the Pepsi challenge, the only loser or winner would be Coke. No possible way to cover so much urban ground in one night unless I got a flying zip-carpet. To make matters worse it is supposed to snow tonight and make the roads tricky, add drunk drivers and cops to the equation and chances of going from one place to the next fail even more. I have been invited to a couple of grand parties that will be pumping(snobby guestlists!) but whats the point to being out on New Years and not being with at least one good friend.
Lately I have been in an artmaking craze, no surprise there, see website http://www.cahaly.net When I am making alot of good artwork and very into my process, I sort of temporarily lose the party urge. When I am in party mode, I don't always have the good artmaking urge. It would be nice if both aspects made better bed partners. If I just made art all the time I would completely non-social and vice-versa. Anyway this is always an exciting night, kind of the World Series of Partying, I would say I am in practice but have been slumping lately. So I wish all of you reading this a happy and safe new year, whatever part of the world your in.
I am attaching the BEST astrology on the PLANET! Peace be with U, Scott.....

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Week beginning December 29
Copyright 2005 by Rob Brezsny
http://www.freewillastrology.com
Grammar key: Asterisks equal *italics*



ARIES (March 21-April 19): Thai coffee salesman Prayoon Thongiorn owns
a pet crocodile. So thoroughly has he tamed the creature that he lets
it
sleeps in his bed with him, even resting his head on it as if it were a
pillow.
I predict that you will make a comparable conquest in 2006, Aries. Some
dragonish influence that would be risky for most people to harbor will
become your ally. Congratulations in advance on both your courage and
the ingenuity you will summon to wrestle that beast into submission.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "We live in a world with too much music,"
writes Joe Nickell at Missoulian.com. He's bothered by the fact that
everywhere he goes, there are tunes pouring from cell phones and mp3
players and TVs and radios and live bands. As far as you're concerned,
though, Nickell is utterly off-base. In 2006, you should take advantage
of
the profusion; you should immerse yourself in music more than you ever
have before. To do so will be instrumental in helping you accomplish
your
top assignment in the coming months, which is to feel deep, rich,
interesting emotions as often as possible.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Many Geminis fit the description of a class of
people that *Wired* magazine calls "yeppies," or "young experimenting
perfection seekers." Overwhelmed by a profusion of conflicting
opportunities, they are restless and insatiable. They treat life "as an
exercise in comparison shopping, refusing to commit for fear of missing
a
better offer." While this approach is pretty normal for your tribe, I
suspect it won't work as well in 2006 as it has for you in the past.
That's
why I urge you to try out some very different attitudes: a tolerance
for
imperfection, a respect for limits, an appreciation for the value of
peace
of mind, and a willingness to concentrate on just two or three
possibilities
instead of 17.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The coming months will not be a time for less
talk and more action, my fellow Cancerian, but for *more* talk and more
action. Here are other prescriptions to help you get the most out of
2006: Go on wilder adventures and entertain fewer superstitions.
Indulge
in fewer mood swings and invest in an experience that will serve as the
best anchor you've ever had. Explore your secrets more aggressively,
but
keep fewer secrets. Work harder to know the difference between true
intuitions and fearful delusions. Feel less remorse and more
forgiveness.
Cultivate wetter love and dryer humor. Commit yourself to faster
promise-keeping and slower fault-finding.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I know people who love the feeling of family but
who don't have much contact with their parents and siblings and haven't
started their own broods. Instead, they quench their longing for an
intimate network by hooking up with a spiritual family--a tribe of
like-
minded people who share their values. The coming months will be prime
time for you to either find a group like that or, if you already have
one, to
deepen and expand your web of connections. You don't have to sacrifice
your relations with your biological kin to do so. The more family you
have,
the better your mental health will be.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In her book *Women Who Run With the
Wolves,* Clarissa Pinkola Estes talks a lot about fairy tales. As a
psychotherapist, she recognizes that the conditions they depict are
similar to how the deepest part of the psyche works. A central theme of
fairy tale justice, she says, is that it's always a good idea to be
kind to
people who don't seem important or beautiful or cool. Characters who
honor that principle are invariably rewarded, while those who spurn it
are
punished. This will be a key idea for you in 2006, Virgo. You can't
afford
to dismiss those you consider your inferiors, nor should you demonize
the
less attractive aspects of your own nature. Your success will hinge on
the
care you take with underdogs.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I have selected a quote by Irish playwright
Brendan Behan to serve as your motto in 2006. I suggest that you write
it out on a piece of red paper and place it in a prominent place like
your
bathroom mirror or computer monitor. "If you have a talent, use it in
every which way possible," said Behan. "Don't hoard it. Don't dole it
out
like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going
broke."

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Widely regarded as a top military historian,
Martin van Creveld has written books that have been influential in
shaping
modern theories of warfare. The U.S. Army makes his work required
reading for its officers. That's why it was so remarkable when he
described America's invasion of Iraq in 2003 as "the most foolish war
since Emperor Augustus in 9 BC sent his legions into Germany and lost
them." I urge you to regularly imitate Creveld's example in 2006,
Scorpio:
Speak out in dramatic fashion against the follies that your expertise
gives
you the right to critique. Drawing on your special experience and
knowledge, make rigorous evaluations of the authorities and
institutions
whose decisions affect your life.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "Dear Rob: I'm a very analytical person,
with a doctorate in nuclear physics and a high-tech job. All my
training
and business savvy tell me that your astrology column is superstitious
bullshit, yet every time I've faced a crisis in the last ten years,
your
horoscopes have provided accurate wisdom and counsel when things
seemed darkest. On the one hand this makes no sense, and on the other
hand I don't care that it doesn't make any sense. Somehow I'm able to
draw sustenance from something whose power I don't understand or even
believe in. In any case, thank you! -Humble Sagittarian Genius." Dear
Sagittarius: In 2006, you Sagittarians will have the chance to benefit
from
many phenomena that fit the description you applied to my column. Open
yourself wide to mystery.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Germany and the Soviet Union failed to
sign a peace treaty after the global hostilities of the mid-20th
century.
Technically, then, World War II never officially ended. This lack of
closure
doesn't seem to have had any lingering repercussions, though, so I
won't
worry about it. On the other hand, there are unresolved situations from
your past that are still causing you problems. In my astrological
opinion,
2006 is an ideal time to finally wrap up all the unfinished business
that
has been subtly draining you. It's a perfect opportunity for the
ultimate
karmic cleansing, preferably carried out with grace, gratitude, and
generosity.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In 1503, wealthy silk merchant Francesco
del Giocondo commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to paint a portrait of his
wife Lisa. But when Leonardo finished the work, now known as the "Mona
Lisa," del Giocondo was so dissatisfied with it that he refused to pay
for
it. It seems he didn't recognize its value. I offer this as a teaching
story
for you, Aquarius. Please make sure that when you get what you ask for
in 2006, you don't make the same mistake del Giocondo did. Eagerly
welcome your dream-come-true, even if it's different from what you
expected.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In his book *The Disappearance of the
Universe,* Gary Renard quotes the counsel of his teacher: "A jet
airliner is
always going off course, but through constant correction it arrives at
its
destination. So will you arrive at yours." Remember that advice
throughout 2006, Pisces. My analysis of the astrological omens suggests
that you will be frequently straying from the path of your highest
destiny,
and yet that's exactly what needs to happen in order for you to reach
your highest destiny. Forced to keep making regular adjustments, you
will
tone and strengthen your willpower, which is essential to you achieving
the goals that really matter.


*********************************************

Apocalypse Un-Plowed!

When I was sixteen, I was enrolled in Drivers-ed as were most of my peers. We watched films like red asphalt and highways of agony and awaited are learners permit then license. Well, nothing from this early ninties course could prepare me for what I just experienced in the last three - Four hours, (MISERY.) Thus begins the saga.
Around the holidays I work for a florist for extra $. You might know it. The big green florist in Harvard square with all the missletoe and pine in front, right in Brattle square. I knew all week they needed me today, Friday to work. All week long it was sunny and winterly pleasant. Today however I knew from the weather there was going to be a snowstorm. I did not want to go, but as I always do I gave it the old college effort. Afterall I have been working there over ten years around the holidays, its almost as synonomous with the Christmas season for me as egg-nog. I got up at Six-thirty a.m. Just naturally arising fifteen minutes before my alarm went off. Proud of myself on some somnombulist level that I beat the alarm. Made instant coffee, went to the bathroom, and winterized/weatherized myself with jacket,gloves, hat boots, GEAR! Drove to Cambridge parked and took the subway over to HAVAAD!!!!
Well the day was pretty typical and just plain pretty with the snow falling. Pretty normal day, Harvard square, intellectual looking bedhead people. Homeless sleeping in the Coup overhead. Beautiful Sola girls catching my attention. Fast-forward several hours, its two-thirty, they let me leave early as there is a flash-blizzard outside and business is dead as disco(when disco was dead!) I hop on subway, go back up to central, and do my normal art store shopping. Some things I purchase in Pearl, some things I purchase in the Artisan supply. Pearl has better deals but is ridiculously lacking confidence and non pierced parts in its employees. Artisan supply just opened across the st. and in the basement. It is like the a student in the front of the class that everyone doesnt' want to admit to like, but still cheats off of. A quick trip to the Harvest for my non-hormonal tested organic yorgurt and I am off to my car on a side st. On the way I stop to see my eighty-year old friend Francis. I ring her but she is not answering. I felt like hanging out with her in her apartment and waiting out this blizzard that is roaring. So bad in fact that white out conditions have been attained. So I trudge further down Magazine st. to my car. Clean it off for ten minutes hop in, and this ladies, gentlemen and aliens is where the MISERY BEGINS*
Usually it takes me ten minutes to get back to my studio. It took me over two hours and a half. Bumper to bumper, white out conditions. Instead of going deathly slow on the main road back,(prospect) I side st. it but am confronted with apocalyptical, un-plowed driving conditions. I go down, one way, three cars are spun out. I go back to the main rd, there is Traffic. I go back down side st. traffic is moving, slowly. Halted at intersection, I take shortcut into Market Basket Parkinglot,(no comment on Brazilian driving habits at this supermarket parkinglot.) Go up a hill, as Somerville could be called Hillville. Little do I know that because about eight inches of snow fell in like an hour and a half nothing has been ploud. People are peeling out left and right. Stuck, fucked, and clueless. I after realizing I wasn't getting anywhere had the good sense to shovel out a space on the side of the st. to get out of the way. Others thought they could get up the hill, and except for the ones with four, wheel drive were sourly mistaken. I eventually turned around from this one side st. hill and told about eleven cars to turn around.( Was looking for extra Karma points!) So,, after waiting a half hour to go around Union Square, which usually only takes three minutes, I went up another hill, more frequented but steep. I should have stuck to the main rds. but couldn't had to be greedy and make good time. Typical Boston driver. This hill was just as bad as the first with even less room to turn around. At this point I thought I was an expert at this situation. Pulled over and decided to walk a half mile up the hill to my studio and leave my car till Saturday when conditions are better. Well, looking for more good Karma, I told others to turn, around again. When I came upon a girl my age, balling in tears in her car saying she'd been in there for three hours and was trying to get to Everett. I tryed to ameliorate her situation by telling her it would be alright and that she should pull over, and walk down to Union Square and chill out for a bit. She listened and did this. From this point I trudged up Walnut st. on foot to my studio while seeing all the denizens shoveling and marveling at nature in the HOOD! All the time, seeing more cars unable to get up the hill. So I get in here, call the cops and they tell me there is a snow emergency and unless your parked on the odd side of the st. you will be towed. SO<> I ran back to my car I had just left, was huffing and puffing all the way up the hill in my big boots. Got in, turned around and proceeded to go one way down the wrong way telling all the other cars to back up. They did, I got back on to the main st. where the traffic was better and got back here. On arrival I immeadiately went to the restaraunt next door, had three drinks(which I needed) and dinner. An old acquaintence was at the bar and picked up the tab which was great.,
STORY OVER!

Erotic Art, (HERALD.)

Erotic Art
By Sher Core

Intimacy is one of life’s most artful forms. It’s a muse for remarkable paintings, drawing and sculpture. It’s been written about, sung about, and woven into all kinds of art. The sexual energy inside artwork is bestowed upon both the artist and the erotic art appreciator. It is expressed in the way we look at life and the manner in which we approach intimacy. What we are drawn to tells us much about ourselves. We all have our favorite forms of art in which we pick preferred pieces. Learning your own artistic preferences is important. It is just as vital as knowing what your mate likes. Branching out further and seeking art out together can give you more than a few ideas on how to add creative flare to a relationship.

Passionate Paintings: Throughout history, lustful paintings have captured the eye of the less modest. The Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli understood subtle erotica. He dealt quite a bit with classic myth, creating images of nude angels, fairies and heroes. Many artists of the Pre-Raphaelite era focused on female nudes. Take Adolph-William Bouguereau’s Evening Mood, for example. Here we have a lovely, fair-skinned maiden basking buck-naked under the moonlight. Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Seaspell shows not just nudity, but it enchants us with its magic and mystery. The French Impressionist era certainly had its fair share of sensuality. Degas’s After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself illustrates the alluring lines of a woman’s body. Jean Renoir was prone to paint voluptuous ladies with ample breast and hips.

Decadent Drawings: Drawing is a good place to start for an aspiring erotic artist. It gives us a sense of the lines of the human body with its unique curves and indents. Many famous painters started by sketching. Pablo Picasso was one of the greats. He was shameless. His eroticism spilled like water. He bravely exposed not just a woman’s shape but up-close views of the vulva. From his earliest drawings to his late works, Picasso’s drawings depict sex in alluring and sometimes painful ways. Sex plays a part in the drawings of many renaissance artists in particular. That influence has branched out to modern works. Contemporary artists have taken drawing to new levels with the advent of erotic animation. From Japanese hentai to artists like Lorenzo Sperlonga who draws nearly lifelike large-breasted ladies.

Seductive Sculpture: In ancient Greece, sculptures of male nudes were quite popular. There is a series of Bronze Warriors depicting the strength and beauty of the male body. There are also pieces of females, including ThreeGoddesses, which shows blatant female sexuality, and Girl with Doves, which depicts a more innocent type of love. Romans were also fond of sculpture. The Doryphorus gave form to its creator’s (Polyclitus) ideal male, while the Venus De Milo is a testimony to the female form. One of the most famous erotic sculptures through history is the notorious David by Michelangelo.

Mood Music: So many songs have a direct sexual connection. Some moan longingly, such as the works of P.J. Harvey, Kate Bush, Sade, Chris Isaak and more. Much of today’s music grabs us with bold, bawdy lyrics and butt-shaking beats. Music improves our mood and adjusts our heart rates. There is no question that a magnetic melody can bring people together for dancing, socializing and intimacy.

Luscious Literature: It stands to reason that erotic literature is favored by women. Men like the visual; women want a story. One renowned author of erotic is Anais Nin. Despite the current popularity of her work, she was relatively unknown for most of her life. She was born in 1903. In the 1960s, she came to be somewhat of a cult figure due as much to her unconventional life as her poetic musings. See the Books section for more unrestrained reads.

The Life of the Artist: Scott Cahaly is a Boston area painter and sculptor. He creates remarkable works which make us think, feel, and yearn. Scott himself is a passionate person. He is a student of the female form, the curves, the positive spaces and shadows all inspire Cahaly's re-occuring depiction of women. His works sprout from that passion. He merges his inner spirituality with the beauty he sees in the female form resulting in a truly singular style. Scott’s Blue series is particularly erotic. In these paintings, couples are twisted together in intimate acts—the backdrops are mystical, yet strangely natural.

Twas the Night Before opening...........

T(is) the night before opening and all through the studio not a creature was stirring accept my African Ghost fish which, too quote Depeche Mode "was knocking on deaths door" all week!. Last Friday I believe I thought it was a good time to really clean out my studio fishtank which I have had going in here for almost five years. One fish has remained with me for these five years, (Apteronotus albifrons) better known as the Black Ghost Fish. The fish's hometown is the Amazon river in Brazil. The fish is long and black and fluttr's like a feather. It is also nocturnal, like some friends of mine who work in clubs in Boston. It also emits a very slight electrical charge that it uses at night like infared to find food. Well your only supposed to change about twenty percent of the tanks water at a time as to not take a way needed bacteria's that sustain life for all the denizens. I stupidly but caringly changed about eighty percent, killing the ghosts long time speedy companion, a tiger fish almost immeadiately. The ghost went into some sort of cardiac arrest and since I know of no ICU for fishies I had to nurse the fish and use my, short seventeen year fishtank experience. I really thought the fish was dying on the fourteenth, I added some stress coat in vain to see if that would help with his skin and it did. By the full moon, the fish was showing signs of recovery. He actually was searching for his little bloodworms I feed him, not eating but at least searching hence showing that he wasn't as crazy and sick as I had thought. Another tip for sick animals which seemed normal is to get a picture of St. Francis and put him near any sick animal you have. In this case I leaned his pic right up against the tank where the fish sleeps. So as of right now the fish seems like he/she(not sure) will be fine.
This has been sort of a depressing week for me. STRESS of being an artist and what that entails in a big bad mean corporate 2005 that I catch myself living in. I almost feel like a whining wife, but being a visual artist is grueling. Consistency in making good work, selling work, explaining to others my schedule, all difficult. Some people went so far as to call me un-focused and lazy because when I work part-time I get several days a week in my studio to do stuff. Obviously I am just sitting around doing nothing waiting for armageddon, Not. I had planned this holiday open studios awhile ago and haven't been overly excited about it since then. This week I actually came down with a slight cold and did not even organizing my studio, today Fri one day before the event. I am not the porcastinating type in anything, well a few things but for the most part I get stuff done. When it comes to this studio which I have opened up tons of times in the past five years, it is almost like an extended body part,(no pun.) I know every corner, inside and out, know where the dust collects most, where the sun comes in stongest, can even hear water dripping out of one of my fountains all the way across the room. If I were a superhero in here I would be daredevil as all my senses are always enhieghtned. I really believe in the essence and soul of all the objects I have created in here, I get scared sometimes that people are not going to really catch onto what I am doing for many years to come. If there were no galleries, collectors or artworld, I would still be making art as I know it is my dharma(soul purpose) I really try to keep my own reality alive within these walls and on my website in cyberspace, every once in awhile the negative scared voices of the world say "no you can't be an individual, you should be more like everyone else" this is when I hit the roof and loose energy.
Anyhow, I have got a lot done in here today and tonight with more to do in the morning, so if you are anywhere around Somerville and want to come over tomorrow please call me at 617-628-0419 and I will tell you where I am located.

Peace, Scott.

Holiday Open Studio

SCOTT CAHALY: Holiday Open Studio
Saturday: Nov 19, 12-5

Displayed at Scott Cahaly’s Studio (SCS)

SCS is part of Mad Oyster building located in
Somerville just a five minute drive from the
Brickbottom building. An urban studio unlike any
other where life size stone statues coexist with
colorful paintings, plants, fish, fountains and the
artist’s own zen meditation center. All created by
Scott Cahaly, known stone sculptor, passionate
painter, popular teacher and tireless scenester.

Cahaly’s sculpture and painting seek to depict
inner and outer realms, the metaphysical, the
transcendent, and a sense of timelessness and
mystery. In both the painting and the sculpture he
uses repetition of stylized depictions of the face
and the human form. At times these are easily
recognized, and at others they are abstracted almost
past the point of recognition. He combines these with
animal imagery, and familiar symbols such as hearts,
stars, suns and moons.

On display will be New Nazca Stone, the three year
twenty-five hundred pound marble statue he carved by
hand. Begun in the basement of a museum in central
Vermont and finished in his Somerville studio the
statue conjures up the art of the Aztecs and Incans
as interpreted through Cahaly’s trademark style.

For directions, please contact artist, GRACIAS.

I Trance, Therfore I AM!

I was given an amazing website link, http://www.undergroundfilm.org/films/viewer.tcl?reso=2&wid=1015176&oftype=lar
have a look. It is a live stream that lasts about fifty-minutes. I play it with realtime player, do have your speakers plugged in. It is very sixties, trippy, Burningman, higher consciousness. It really inspired me alot the way the whole movie was put together.
Well, last night was yet another solid Fall Party night. The Sat before Hallows eve to boot. I knew about six parties, don't ask how, I just knew. Several parties in Brookline, Somerville, Cambridge and South Boston. I opted to go to "Southy" as my friend Ivan's studio is on Broadway. So I drove there parked my car and immediately see a bunch of partygoers dressed up in their costumes. At the door to my friends studio nonetheless. Upon entering the threshold I got an upclose look at some great costumes and much effort. So I met Ivan, we had a drink and then decided to head out to the Distillary somewhere nearby cause that was one of the party destinations. I said, "we should go check this thing out here in your building first as it is on the way out." He agreed and we went down to what I can only describe as a Lithuanian Moshpit with good European Beer. As soon as we showed up, before we knew it, two of the revelers grabbed our arms and dragged us on to the dancefloor circle where everyone was pulling each other around at the speed of drunken sound. It was good fun, very old-school Euro. Over the course of an hour or so we stayed, I got checked, elbowed and I thnk punched in the chest, all by accident. I was talking to a Lithuanian women at one point and she said, "why are you at a Lithuanian party if your not Lithuanian, da." I said, "this Lithuanian party happens to be in the city I grew up in so whats your point."
We left there, walked to the Distillary but ended up at a place called the Foundry which was wrong. We were on East second st walking the wrong way, eight to ten blocks the wrong way! So I said" alright, one more block then we turn around." As it turned out, at that final block on the right was this HUGEEEEEEE glass space with hundreds of people, I thought it was a rave for a second. I was in utter dis-belief, we were both astonished and decided to check it out, "when in Rome!" So we couldn't enter through the main entrance as it was too late. So I took a page out of my college days and both of us entered through the smokers door on the side of the building. We got in there and the place was HOPPING. Costumes, Dj, catered food. Kegs, wine, WOW! So then at about one oclock the house lights came on and I was thinking, oh this is not good, time to move on to the next party. After the usual post party smoozing, I grabbed Ivan and we went outside. We proceeded to hail a cab for twenty-five minutes but were having no luck. Finally we got one and it took us to the Distillary. We were just about there when this homless guy was like"the party is there, points to the door." It felt pre-destined. So we scaled four flights of stairs to find a pumping loft party, full bar couches, huge dancefloor, loud music, peole moving. So like the proverbial fish to water, we dove in. I love this City on Nights like that. We agreed afterward that, either of the three parties on any normal Sat night would have been adequate, but the fact that we hit three awesome ones within walking distance of each other was indeed, SPECIAL.

Speed of reality

Is it my artistic imagination or is reality really moving fast. When I say reality really moving fast I mean things seem very urgent lately. Not just on a collective earthquake, hurricane level but on all levels. This month there has been so much stuff happening that it has unhinged my previously established calm meditative bedrock that I have been building up for years.
It is very good to have a social network and have things going on. A funny thing happens to me when I am socializing. Instead of feeling like, okay I went to a great party, or concert or gathering or whatever now I can go home and chill out. Its different, socializing, for me almost breeds more socializing. Its great but distracting. There was a span of years when I was totally non-social and stayed in and made art all the time. The thought of making plans wasn't possible as I felt no nourishment from being social. Now its like the need to stay in and make art and being hyper-social are wrestling with each other. One of the good things about this cold weather and the winter in general is that it breeds studio time for me. Not that there are less things going on around (BASTAN) but the need to be outside warming myself in the sun like a reptile has ceased.
I see people all around who should be staying in being productive but instead are getting strung out on whatever social scenes their on. I try to keep myself in a mindset where I get stuff done during the week and weekends and still maintian time for going out. I am a proponent of a well-balanced mindset. I find it really interesting how much stuff people I talk to have going through their head. I always say, do you MEDITATE and I am looked at like a child on the back of a milk carton. People don't realize, because this realization only comes from doing, but meditation is the answer to neurosis, suffering, depression. Not all at once, and it does take years but it as important as jogging, at least as much as text messaging.........

Mind/Body expo 05

Hello there, I am feeling great and very calm as I have just returned from the mindbody expo in Boxboro MA. I won several free passes for the whole weekend so I decided to take full advantage as it was the closest I have had to a spiritual retreat in years. My whole mission so far this fall has been to get the heck out of the city and having a car with just fourteen thousand miles has been helping me do that. So I picked up a close family member yesterday and we headed up at about four in the afternoon. Today I returned by myself at noon and stayed five hours, it was worth it. The event took place in the functions wing of this Holiday Inn out in Boxboro. The best way of describing Boxboro is that it is the kind of place you only go to in the fall, because the leaves changeing along the way made for a perfect roadtrip, as opposed to the return getting lost in pouring rain and driveing an extra hour from 195 to route-nine then to the mass pike with an overly loquacious relative talking my ear off. That being said, the Holiday inn itself with its indoor pools and kids running around screaming brought me back to a time when I was a kid when my family used to go to these church conventions in distant towns in distant creepy hotels like this enormous Holiday Inn. There were free apples as we walked in, another sign that it is fall and that we were out of the city.
The Expo is set up in one GIANT room and has several smaller rooms which are used for one hour workshops. In the giant room, there is everything from acupuncture, to psychics, to flower essences, to reiki demos, massage, spontaneous healing, aura photography, books, crystals and my latest acquisition a salt lamp and lots more.... The workshops that occured, covered all sorts of areas, Avalon(celtic afterworld), opening the third eye, living consciously, sex and spirituality, world peace, past lives, feng-shui, healing the heart. I did about eight of these workshops and spent countless minutes moving from booth to booth, trying to absorb the different info. I liked and dis-liked different aspects of the whole thing. I dis-liked the whole sales pitch part of the booth area. I found some of the practicioners overly-aggressive in trying to sell me something or get me on their e-mail list or the like. Its funny that such spiritual pursuits still have the used-car salesman thing attached to it. The thing I'd like the most is when I was allowed to take my time reading about a subject or doing a demo and felt the connection with the subject or person teaching me about it. I had an AWESOME fifteen minute free massage by this french women, who at the end of the massage, started rubbing my head and seperating my ears and when she did this, it just acted as a catalyst for all the other rubbing she did and at that point, all the energy just spread through my body. I also got alot out of the workshops, alot of intuitive info I tried to absorb about the heart, the world, spirituality and relationships. So much info from so many classes I feel like it is still swishing around my head.
This Salt Lamp I just plugged in is very cool. It is a large piece of solid salt, mined (supposedly) at the foothills of the Hymalayas. It is hollow on the inside where a light fits in. What it does is emit, negative IONS which convert the plethra of positive Ions in the air and make whatever environment it is placed very serene. From my experience with other peoples ion machines, its like the difference between fog and clarity outside, but at a much more subtle level. I think it will go well in my studio as I know I am in positive Ion central with the busy street right outside my window and all of my electric gadgets, like the one I am writing on right now.
As I said earlier I am feeling overwhemlingly pieceful and spiritual and that is how I want to stay. I am becoming more de-tached from the day-day existence that is characteristic of life and particularly, life in the city. I want to return to more of a heart oriented natural spiritual existence, like the one I had in Vermont, years ago. I am not saying the city is bad or I am leaving right now but I feel better when I break out and have other geographic and heart/mind destinations, even if they do occur within a mind/body exposition in a Holiday Inn. -S.

Let It Flow

In the immortal words of Spirtualized, "Let it Flow." The only reason I ever bought spiritualized is because someone said they were a current Velvet Underground, back in the mid-ninties. No matter how many minutes I spend during the day stressed out that I am in my studio making art while others are out in the world making big money, this is who I am. Ten years prior to right now, I was wandering around the streets of Burlington VT. looking for myself. I was stairing at the clouds, the lake, going into different churches, reading all sorts of spiritual literature. I was in a dungeon of insecurity. It was almost like I was seeing something that noone else was and new I was in chyrsalis. Spiritual death and rebirth is a heavy subject that entails a place words can't reach. Suffice to say in all this misery there was a certain sense of rawness a pain junkies wildest dream. I wasn't into the suffering, I just suffered and longed for clarity, thoughts of my middle-class suburban past, my existential Phish Vermont present and the ever Mysterious future loomed.
My new rule is to never talk about any painting or sculpture until they are done as they become cursed. The last painting I mentioned, "turtle earth" got buried under fresh acrylic. Things are going well with the new work,(probably shouldn't have said that.) Something that saved my spirits this past week was time spent in Nature. Last Tuesday, I was at my witts end and was so unconnected with my painting. The usual Central Square run did not do it. I hightailed it to Walden Pond in Concord MA. Hiked around the Park and saw the sun set, the next day as well. These few hours in nature melted my anxiety about everything from bills, art, future, girls, parties etc. Being in the city is like being in a kitchen and only being in the oven. You literally have to break out to realize there are other parts of the room(strange metaphor, oh well.) I did some tree hugging, tried to do a sitting meditation in the woods, but could not keep my eyes closed because of the tremendous scenery. Upon getting back to work the next day I felt rejuvinated and nourished and in line with whatever it was My sub-conscious wanted to excorcise on to the canvas. No matter what blocks that come up with my work, I thank God that I have that little tiny spark inside me that reveals itself only after I've spiritually prepared myself for its cameo. Peace, Scotty.

Artist's First-ever blog/ Finding the "me" in Memo with my niece

This is cool. Have been reading blogs. Never written one. Finally a chance for my horrible use of the English language to be witnessed by a countless three people. Anyhow, made a laundry run to my parents late last night and could not sleep past four in the morning. Found it needed to watch almost the whole season of Entourage on demand television. The character who plays ari, the acting agent is in hyper-space. That actor is so funny he makes me scream, along with Matt Dillon's brother who plays the star's brother, VERY FUNNY. Got my laundry done, had breakfast with the folks at a familiar breakfast nook a town away. Most of the conversation consisted of money, something I am in short hold of as I am a visual artist. Not that I don't believe artist's cannot be rich but right now I am "getting buy."
After leaving the meal which my father paid for, I hopped in my car back to my studio to continue working on a very abstract painting called turtle-earth which so far in its groundpainting form consists of a huge cosmic turtle with the earth as its massive round shell. As always I wasn't sure where this one was going but its truth became revealed as soon as I started painting it from the middle of the canvas and working out to the paremeters. On my drive to my studio I realized i was near my brothers house and had the option of swinging buy and seeing my beautiful young three year old niece. I did and the two of us sat together, her in my lap, and she screened finding memo for me. My first time ever. She even knew how to use the dvd player and she is just three. In my mind I was like, alright, I need to swim so I will only stay and watch for like fifteen minutes. From the onset, watching memo, "I was hooked" brilliant colors, funny dialogue and about fish. I have been an amateur icthyologist for most of my life and have almost always kept a fishtank at one point or another so, I was really "hooked."
Needles to say there was a scene which incorporated these Bill and Ted type surfer turtles giving the protagonists a ride through the australian jet stream under the ocean. These turtles, not only gave me ideas for my "turtle earth painting" but also reminded me of the universe. Because I wasn't in such a rush to get IN to the studio and work, I ended up here seeing these turtles which hopefully will inspire me to finish my painting.
Another thing nice about the visit was that fact it felt like quality time. As a single artist I am very selfish and tend to go out alot. Alot of late nights and other things. Fun for a bit, but in the end much like a hangover. Its good in small doses, but those doses become regular. Lately I have felt the need to stay in more and paint or sculpt, (I also carve stone.) Its taken courage for me to live more of a "sober" life. Lately I try to have the best people around me for that. Not that other people are bad, but just people with good energy where I feel energized after being with them and not drained. My niece IS at the top of my list for this and I love her, I know (ah!)
Anyhow I do recommend Memo and also taking time out to arrive in a situation where you could watch such a film that entails a shark intervention ten step program type thing to stop them from eating fish. Cheers.