SURF'S UP

Couldn't sleep much last night. Combination of mind spinning, dog barking, and my back giving me guff. Beyond that, I think there is some crazy energy vibrating across the universe right now. I don't think it is positive or negative in the classic good guy bad guy sense. I think it's just change, movement, worlds turning, dimensions opening, and so forth. Sometimes I think we are like those things in the original Dark 

Crystal movie, where the two different sides of what seems like and epic and very long war merge and become one. Or like when Captain Kirk got teleported and split in two, and then rejoined his two halves at the end of the episode. Or like a butterfly when it's in its chrysalis, morphing in this celestial goo. That's it. We are in some sort of cosmic, transformative goo, and all the unrest, the pandemic, the protests, the fires, are the result. Or maybe the goo is the result of those events. Either way, there is a lot of morphing going on. And lots of the word "or" in this paragraph. 

Had a really weird dream the other night. I was being attacked by owls. I was running up this picturesque hill to this lovely house, like something you'd see in a Lifetime Network movie, when all of a sudden, all these owls attacked. They were shredding with their razor sharp claws, and it did not feel good. So I did what any reasonable person would do. I called Amazon's customer service line. The operator told me the best thing to do would be to stick a needle into my. Cross my heart, hope to die. I didn't think this was a good idea. The owls kept on shredding me. I pulled out a needle, which I just happened to have in my pocket, and weighted my options. Needle in eye, or claws in  body. This was the crux of the dream. 

Like I said. Crazy energy. 

Been watching the DNC. I like it. Some of it is a bit corny. Some of the speakers a bit flat in their delivery. But I don't see any radical ideas. I see a bunch of people who seem to also acknowledge the crazy energy. We are in need of some kind of way to deal with this. Either we harness it, learn how to ride it, or get eaten by it. I like the ride it option. I used to body surf when I was growing up in California. We'd go to Santa Cruz, or Natural Bridges State Park, or Capitola, or some other beach on the Monterey Bay, and swim in those cold waters. And we'd body surf. You swim out, spot a wave, swim in front with just the right timing so that when the wave crests, you are in front of it, and then ride it. It's a wild feeling. Free and insane and joyous. But if you try to go against the wave, it would toss you about like a twig, send you under and over and out of control And you learned just how powerful the ocean is. It feels like a lot of us are trying to work against the Crazy Energy right now. And yes, I have given it capital letters like a proper noun. Why not? We all feel it. This particular time is a being, a thing, a god of old that has risen to perform its function, which seems to be kicking the shit out of all our suppositions. It might have a name, but if it does, I don't think we are allowed to say it. 

I think the tide of this Crazy Energy has come in and out a few times. I do not know when it will move on. All I know is, we all need to swim out into the cold water, spot our wave, and ride it. 

Here's a song. It's Crazy Rhythms, by the Feelies, in honor of our nameless god.

THE OWLS WILL STILL BE SINGING

Been listening to this crazy podcast of late. It's called The Duncan Trussell Family Hour, and it's by one of the people who create The Midnight Gospel, my current favorite animated series on Netflix. What I love about the podcast is that it is basically this guy Duncan having intensely interesting, funny, spiritual, bizarre, free flowing conversations that go wherever they want to go. It's perfect for listening to late at night, or when gardening, or taking a long drive. Today's episode was with Mitch Horowitz, this author on all things occult. The dude sounded pretty cool, actually. When I hear "occult author", I immediately thing of Boris Karloff in the classic horror flick The Black Cat, which is really weird and amazing and I highly recommend. But turns out this guy was nothing like Karloff's character in that movie. He is more like a spiritualist, or thinker, or just interesting person who has some thoughts on life he shares. And they were talking about how we all can have bad days, times when we act like morons, treat others poorly, cut people off in traffic. You know, act like Human beings. And how that's okay. Not that we should strive to be assholes or anything like that. More that we should accept that everyone plays the fool sometimes. The jerk. The creep. Choose your word. And I got to thinking. Do I come off as someone who thinks they're perfect? Do I come off like I think we should all grow up and get over it and stop whining so much? Maybe I do. I do think we can get through this. I do think there have been worse times to be alive in our history. But I do realize that this is a hard time. That people are depressed. And lonely. And worried. So, if I have made anyone feel crappy about how they are dealing with this virus, I'm sorry.

I think, sometimes, in a very twisted way, that growing up in an alcoholic, co-dependent house with lots of psychological abuse and the occasional slamming against the wall - while horrific and a drag- did give me something to gauge other bad times against. It also messed with my head, and I am fairly certain if I didn't go on a spiritual quest that began with a stint as a full blown Born Again Christian in high school that I would most likely have ended up in jail. Still, I know what it is to feel lost and scared and like I am living on a different planet from everyone else. And that has come in handy of late. But I think it might make me a little less tolerant of other people's pain. So, thanks Mr. Trussell and Mr. Horowitz, for helping me figure that out.

It's Memorial Day week end. Doesn't feel like it. Feels like... I don't know. Feels like a time I've never lived before. It's kind of unique. I guess labels have gone bye bye. And that's cool. Each moment is ephemeral and not to be seen again. But in the old, pre-Covid days, somehow I was able to pretend that was not the case. There would be days and feelings and times I would just think "oh, it's the Monday blues", or "it's Friday Night out with the gang", or "it's clean up the house day". Now, every day is different and new and while that can be tiring, it's also invigorating. Maybe the sheer boredom of routine confined to a limited space has forced me to open my third eye just the tiniest bit and look around and see things more clearly.

Maybe.

One more thing. I saw a young owl today in a tree. I've always felt like when I see an animal in the wild, it's the world trying to tell me something. Owls, in particular, have always felt like harbingers of mysticism and romance. Some people think when you dream of an owl that means you were abducted by aliens. Or that a ghost walked your house while you slept. I think it was bringing some spirit guides to help me finish the first draft of my screenplay. I also think it is yet another sign of how happy the planet is to have been given a slight, very brief break from all the horrible treatment she has received at the hands of the human race. We really need to be better about how we treat our home. I like owls, and clear skies, and sea turtles, and life in general.

Here's a song. It's Night Has Turned to Day by Fantastic Negrito. Feels good.