I am now a mad hatter goth scarecrow! This week I received the first hat that I actually enjoy wearing; It’s a black paper panama made with Japanese toyo paper. As you can see, it’s so very perfect for my look. I enjoy wearing it around for the black scarecrow look and it’s also rather practical for keeping rain and sun out of my eyes. With my favourite glasses now in pieces that’s important.

Tuesday night April and I hosted a roaring success of a murder mystery night. Nathan, Andrew, Allison, Sara, Jana, Gwen and Robin all showed up in fancy dress and ready to play some rather amusing characters. I was playing an oil baron from Texas, which was quite a stretch. After the case was solved, we dove into food, continued with drink and began a truth or dare session that involved me locking lips with Gwen (was rather nice, actually), Nathan kissing my chin and Sara mooning my poor, unaware neighbours. It was good times, for sure. We’re hoping to make it a regular gathering, something I’m looking forward to.

It looks like K-Os will be co-headlining Evolve this year. I’m tempted to head on out to Antigonish just for that performance alone. Turns out K-Os is a vegetarian as well.

I’m wrapping up the last few hours before three days off from work. I’m looking forward to some time spent on the site redesign and a fancy dress board game party. It may involve corsets, so that’s especially exciting. Can’t you imagine how great I’ll look in one? Guests are still up in the air, so let me know if you’re available for either Monday or Tuesday.

Yesterday I got together with Sara, Jana, her friend Gwen and April at the mall near my home. It was nice to get out, eat candy and be social before work, especially with such a fine group. I swear I’ve been more social this past month than any in the past year. It’s a nice change from my hermit-like old ways.

This week I received my copy of Stuart Davis‘ new album, ?What and haven’t been able to stop listening to it. Stuart is one of the finest song-writers out there, and incredibly fun to listen to, so I expected to be knocked off my feet. I was, and my head still rings from hitting the wall. I love this album, just as I love Bell, his previous release, because of his songcraft, wit, humour and overall presentation. An attack on rotten things like mythic silliness (“I am an antidote to New Age philosophy; I am epicac to this mythic caprophogy” in “Easter”), martyrdom, suicide, humourlessness, and division from divinity now and then add to the draw it has. Saul Williams’ contributions of a poem and backing on “Easter” are also highlights. Stuart is fantastic, a punk monk out to get people climbing up the spiral with some Dharma Pop.

I’ve been using April’s Nintendo DS and Brain Age. I’ve enjoyed both quite a lot and am looking forward to picking up a DSLite and the new Opera web browser for it. You’ll see me blogging everywhere then. Or at least playing some Metroid on the bus. Nintendo is impressing me tremendously and is bringing me back to being interested in owning a gaming system for the first time since I was a kid. Oh, and my brain age is now down to 33 and is undergoing a steady decline.

P.S. “Easter” may very well be my favourite song. Lyrical brilliance!

As I’m waiting for my three cheese, tomato and red pepper pasta to be ready to eat, I suppose I should take the time to make an update. Just so you know, the pasta is smelling delicious. Tomato and red pepper soup adds punch to everything I’ve tried it with. Perogies were delicious with it as a sauce.

Speaking of good foods, I had a wonderful Indian meal at Multifest this past weekend. Multifest is Nova Scotia’s premiere multicultural festival and is held at Alderney Landing on the Dartmouth waterfront, meaning I had to take the ferry across the harbour for the first time in years, an overall pleasant experience.
I headed over with April, Sara and a couple of Sara’s friends I hadn’t met before. The fest was crowded and a bit overwhelming. Orange-robed Buddhist monks mingled in the crowd while a wide assortment of musical acts graced us with aural treats. Tents dedicated to a world of foods and cultural experiences dazled us with an impressive array of the world’s delights. It was a genuinely heartwarming, stomach-pleasing, ear-soothing, eye-catching affair. How have I been missing this most years? No more.
One amusing moment was Sara and I trying on Jamaican headdresses, as you can see in the image with this entry. The poor girl looking after that display must have thought us all insane, but it was good fun. Are we badass and totally hot? Absoluely.

My Threadless shirt arrived today and I had to show it off, of course. The design is just as sharp in the thread as on the site and I’m once again a happy customer.

A long while ago I submitted a entry to 25 Peeps, a site featuring photos of 25 bloggers at a time. Photos remain if they generate enough traffic to not fall to the bottom of the ranking. If you could do me the favour of clicking for me, I’d very much appreciate it (I’m the fellow with a blue hat and long red hair).

Thugs make me laugh, even as they posture and threaten me. Egocentrism combined with slow wits makes for laughs all around. Today I was downtown and crossing at a clearly marked crosswalk as I went from the library to a magazine shop to buy the new issue of What Is Enlightenment? (get the irony?) when a car squeeled to a stop. A would-be gangster yelled, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
I laughed loudly at the fellow and continued to cross as I should. “What you laughing at hippie?” came the angry yell. April and I walked on and the raging kid tried to get out of his car, only to have locked himself in. “You think this is funny, boy?” he boomed as I continued to walk on and chuckle.
“It’s a cross walk!” I called back, noticing he had finally figured out how to leave his car, which was parked in the middle of a busy street, holding up traffic. He was soon lost behind, but the laughs at his expense continued.
I can’t help but feel compassion for him, as angry and unhealthy as he was. I may not remember what it was like to be at that stage of development, but we were all there at one time and that’s important to remember. Did my laughter help, hinder or have no impact at all on him? I can’t rightly say, but I imagine it’s a better reaction than most others I could have chosen.

Last night I watched Lord Love a Duck with April. I have to admit that I’m still smitten with Tuesday Weld.

“I <3 Integral,” as the netspeaking kids would type. At least those kids into Integral would.

I’m happy to now be a sponsor member of Integral Institute, the organization doing the most to unfold integral consciousness and unleash “a force for greater wholeness, excellence, beauty, brilliance, and compassion in the world.” I’ve been consistantly impressed by the work I-I does to promote integral and benefit the world. I am overjoyed to lend whatever resources I can to that work. The subscriptions to Integral Naked and Integral Spiritual Center and an I-I sticker to cover a glaring scratch on my laptop are wonderful bonuses to supporting the avant garde of our evolution.

The integral vision has become a key factor in all aspects of my life, as those of you who have witnessed me since I first discovered Ken’s writings have surely noticed. At the very least some of you have suffered through ramblings on the integral framework. I can’t recommend becoming immersed in integral enough; Doing so has sparked the most powerful transformations I can recall experiencing.

I’ve been lax in my ILP (Integral Life Practice) lately, something I very much want to change. One vital aspect of an ILP is shadow work, integration of hidden aspects of ourselves and I’ve been moved recently to make attention to that a priority. What reminded me of the importance of shadow work is Ken Wilber‘s recent “Shadow Series” blogging. He has issued a challenge to us all to begin exploring and embracing our shadows so that our work, interactions and overall living can be more authentic and healthy.
I intend to make my blogging a genuine part of my ILP from now on. My delayed relaunch will be a symbolic step toward that, I feel. Another small death in a long string of them. I’ll be doing some diving in the shadows for starters. I know I have need of addressing them.
~C4Chaos is one beacon of integral blogging that I’ve been enjoying keeping up with. His “Blogging with Passion and Compassion” is a succinct expression of what blogging from an intergral level can be.

This article is a reminder for me of the direction I want to take my work in and of the deepest hopes I have for the medium of blogging. At some point it became unconscionable to not use this tool responsibly and I have to work toward making that a reality. Thanks for the reminder ~C4Chaos!

Last year I wrote of Marion Raven‘s solo album, and how much I had been anticipating the release of music from Marit Larsen, who had been the other half of the duo M2M (and who I must admit having a crush on for some time). I was blown away with this album, even though I had anticipated a leap. Under The Surface is one of the most surprising albums I’ve encountered this year, a vulnerable, joyful, beautiful and devious masterpiece. The overall feeling I had once I finished listening the first time and each listen after was that this is something terribly fresh and exciting in the pop landscape. The authenticity, skillfulness and pure joy of this album will be keeping it playing in my head for a long time to come.

This Friday I’ll have the honour of seeing Buck 65 et Le Film Noir with Matt Mays & El Torpedo at The Seahorse Tavern, a very small venue. It has been a long while since I last saw either artist, so I’m thrilled to have the chance to see them in a couple days.
On Sunday Buck 65 was honoured with the keys to his home community of Mt. Uniacke, a well-deserved recognition of the fine work he has done to give that community and all of Nova Scotia a gravelly voice in the world.

I’ve been a fan for years, so it’s a joy to see such deserved attention paid to Buck 65 and his music.
And speaking of Buck’s music, he recently released a beautifully scrappy album by the name of Strong Arm for free download on his website.

It reminds me of a melding of the quickness of Vertex (his first release) and the evolutionary bits we’ve seen on recent albums like Secret House Against the World. It’s free so you’d be wise to go listen. You don’t want to miss “What Grace Means” or “Fuck Off Satan”.

This entry is music focused, so I’ll see if I can mention some other gems that have been keeping my eardrums vibrating divinely. Susana introduced me to Ensamble Galileo recently and the album she sent has been playing often as I move around the city. I’ve been playing everything I have by David Usher and his former band Moist a lot these past couple weeks; he’s one artist I’ve overlooked far too often. I’m eagerly awaiting albums from Stuart Davis and Emilie Autumn to arrive in my mail box.

I had a rather eventful weekend, my first Saturday and Sunday off in some time.
Saturday night I attended a 40th wedding anniversary for my uncle Herald and aunt Marie. I had a heartwarming time with a large number of my family at the hotel where I work. It was wonderful to be able to see my young cousins and the rest of my family for a few hours; it had been several months since I had last seen most of them. My family is full of odd characters, so gatherings are always good for a laugh. The lowest point was when my sister and cousin Sara requested a Backstreet Boys song and I could, much to my horror, remember every word. I’d hoped to block it forever from my memory, but I failed miserably. The Macarena caused only slightly less trauma. The food was quite good, as were the drinks, to leave things on a high note.
Sunday I went to Halifax Greek Fest with Athan, April, Allison and Andrew (Nathan’s name is mispelled because I’m in the mood for alliteration, or assonance if we wish to be proper). I had a fantastic time at the fest. Though it was underwhelming in scope, the traditional music, dancing and food were delightful. I was especially impressed by the foods I ate and with my first taste of Alpha beer. If you’re ever in Halifax in June, I highly recommend dropping by the fest for a couple hours.

Somehow I’ve neglected to mention that my dear friend April has moved in with Mithra and I. She’s staying with us until she has a place of her own and living in the “bright room”. April has been one of my best friends for years, back into the misty high school years when I was called Jesus by nearly everyone, so she’s obviously wicked freaking awesome.

Tonight I decided to take advantage of a sale at Threadless, the finest t-shirt maker online. I’ve been longing for “A Room with a View” for ages and finally snagged one. If you want uncommonly inventive, ironic and beautiful shirts, Threadless is the place to go! And until the 15th the shirts are only $10.

Threadless tells me I’m 23.52 years old at the moment, which means I’m on the downward arch to 24. I expected to be a wandering hobo by this point, so I’d better get to work on that. Oh, to ride the rails!

I make it no secret that Ken Wilber is one of my heroes. He transcends and includes like no other and has been a tremendous inspiration in my growth over the past couple years. Now, his humour is one of his greatest weapons, as you can read in his blog.

Ken’s critics are often rather dim, so it was amusing to see him take some well-deserved shots at some of them so entertainingly in “What We Are, That We See“. Sometimes the “Einstein of Consciousness” needs to fire back, and I’m thrilled our beloved Wyatt Earp did it with such flare. Also, check out his feature article in What is Enlightenment magazine this month.

Speaking of showdowns, tomorrow is election day here in Nova Scotia, when the green-yellow NDP take on the blue-orange Cons while the orange-green Liberals complain because they aren’t popular and wish that polls were banned.

When I’m away from my own computer I often make use of Meebo, a chat client that you can run in any browser window. It makes it a lot easier to keep in touch via MSN, AIM, YIM, and ICQ when I’m not on Lunar using Trillian. Give it a try and message me sometime if you have my contact info (it’s not hard to find).

Sometimes shipping prices can be the biggest deterrent to buying something online. I was considering a stash card, but $60 with shipping is terrible when the original cost was $10.

If you haven’t yet, I recommend signing up for Consumating, the geekiest social networking site there is.

This coming Tuesday Nova Scotia will be having a provincial election. The battle is essentially between the social democratic NDP and the Conservatives, with the Liberals decidedly out of the race. As always, I will be supporting the NDP, the party that I believe has a clearer vision and understanding for the future of this province.
The NDP has a very solid spread of candidates, but I’m terribly excited to see that one of the most inspiring and influential people of my youth has stepped forward as the candidate for the area I grew up in. Gary Burrill was the minister at the church I went to as a child, and was a great influence on my appreciation of spirituality and the positive role religion can play; I still unwaveringly admire his convictions, openmindedness and deeply sincere compassion. I can think of no one better to represent the rural area I called home for so many years than Gary, who is a brilliant speaker and storyteller, a man of obvious intelligence and an exemplar of active compassion. I wish him nothing but the best in the challenge he faces to benefit the Colchester Musquodoboit Valley riding.
A tremendous amount of good can be enacted if we elect more NDP members, and I hope that will become a reality. As difficult as it will be to remove the Conservatives from power, it is vital to move this province forward and increase joy within the daily lives of thousands. If you have the opportunity to vote in this upcoming election, I hope you’ll join those of us working to bring the best to our communities.

First, sorry to any of you who misunderstood my last post as a blogging denouement. Before you send spiders to the wake, let me clarify. I meant that the first three years are done, but that the fourth is about to commense. Sorry for any misconception. I’ll be around for years to come, I promise. If you did think my blog dead, consider this a glorious rebirth. Or at least notice I’m making awkward attempts at getting tiny bits typed up.

Some obsticles have arisen for my November wanderings, but I’m looking at some workarounds that should make it still possible. I’m terribly excited to be able to travel some, so I won’t abort the trip without doing all I can. A destination is to be decided, but a chance to leave the province and hopefully the country for a couple weeks will be very welcome.

I’m tempted to have the trip take me to a city hosting Dialogue in the Dark, an exciting exhibition that my friend Susana is working on in Monterey, Mexico.

The experience sounds like it would be deeply moving and offer a lot of insight into just how vital each sense we have is to our lifestyles. Susana stressed that growing empathy is a key part of the project, and I certainly applaud any effort to increase our empathy.

I like sleep quite a lot. There’s nothing quite like lying in a comfortable bed. The future may see more of us giving up sleep in favour of extended wakefulness. “From A to Zzzzz” suggests that 36 hour days without major drawbacks are just a pill away, with more drastic extensions of our days in the pipeline.

Perhaps sleep is a very variable need, but it seems to me there’s a lot more going on that we might imagine.. As someone who works nights and then shifts into daytime activity at the expense of sleep sometimes, I can understand the appeal of more waking hours. I don’t yet know, however, if I would be willing to give up the pleasure and elusory benefit of a good sleep on a regular basis, though.