Fairfield Jazz Players

A jazz band was playing at the Fairfield Farmer's market. While they might not be quite ready to hit the clubs in Greenwich Village, they were "groovy man". What the heck does "groovy" mean anyway?

Fun in Fairfield

Just for kicks RDA and I went down to Fairfield (home of Mahareshi School of Management) today. I tried out my new camera - KodakZ730 digital. It works great for what I wanted - something light to carry around for grabbing a quick "tourist" shot. With a little help from Adobe Photoshop the pix came out clear and fully saturated - like this shot of an art gallery just off the main square.

Need Coffee

Rejeanne and I visited Minneapolis this weekend.

It was very clean.

There was plenty of food.

We had a good time.

My mind is empty.

MUST HAVE COFFEE

Dream

My pictures are done with ink pens on archival paper. I sometimes sketch out the image in pencil before beginning and then erase the pencil after I have captured the image in ink. The originals generally are 8.5"x11". The final ink images are comprised entirely of dots. It takes anywhere from a few thousand to over 1 million dots to fill a page. If you like the image use it as you wish. If you would like to purchase the original I will sell it for a donation to Uptown Bill's Small Mall - www.uptownbills.org/. Email me at daleshankins@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Blue Bird

Last October, to help deal with changes in my life I began to make pictures. This is one of my more recent efforts. I will load more. Please use this image as you wish. If you are interested in the orginal I will sell it for a donation to Uptown Bill's. Email me at daleshankins@yahoo.com.

Tribes

TRIBES

I am a tribe, part of a tribe and someone who needs freedom from tribalism.

I am a tribe of one because I can only speak, or try to speak, what is true for me. When I try to speak for others or give them advice on how they should behave I cease to be who I am and try to become a leader, teacher or priest. This is dangerous for me. Several visits to institutions and countless vain arguments have taught me at long last that I have no particular talent for, or interest in shaping the lives of others. If I do influence others these days it is due to a remnant of ego that I cannot shake. I am trying to get better. Please excuse me when I relapse.

In a way, this blog site thing is a relapse. Ego certainly is involved in releasing my thoughts into the vastness of the electromagnetic sphere – sending out a virtual “message in a bottle”. My only excuse is that writing is one of the things that I must do every day as a prophylactic measure against my return to the hospital. I have chosen to put these writings (drawings, photographs, etc.) on the internet because some friends say they like them. I like writing. My friends like reading what I write. Perhaps we are codependent! Maybe we need therapy!

I am part of a tribe or many tribes depending on your point of view. I am member of the tribe of animate beings. I am warm blooded and have an endoskeleton. I am a mammal. I am a human being. I am an inhabitant of earth, in the Milky Way galaxy, etc. I am white. I was raised Southern Baptist. I have attended university. On and on, the number of tribes seems to be infinite. This should be a beautiful thing and it is except that each tribe seems to want me to hate or, at a minimum dislike, all the others.

I appreciate the value of tribal loyalty. If I had not had loyal tribe members in my past I would not be here. A solo human on the plains of the Serengeti would have had trouble staying out of reach of the lions. When my ancestors roamed the earth in little groups they formed tribes to stay alive. They killed members of other tribes in order to survive, and let’s face it - often for greed and the pure pleasure of exercising the power of life and death over another.

The system evidently worked fairly well for small groups. If we didn’t like our tribe or we ran into a tribe too powerful for our tribe there was always the option of running away. There was always another place where there were no other tribes – at least of the human variety.

I no longer have that option. If 9/11 taught me anything it was this – I am part of one global tribe whether I like it or not. I must learn to accept you and your differences. I must make some attempt at treating you with love and kindness or I will become extinct. When I drive my SUV at 70 on the interstate I must be aware that I am angering those who do not have SUVs or even highways. It used to be that the “have nots” were fairly powerless and far, far away. Now with the internet, airplanes and telecommunications the “have nots” are my next door neighbors. Also, as 9/11 showed, the “have nots” now have the capability to reach anywhere they wish. If I bomb them, they can bomb me right back. If I hit them in the face, I am in fact hitting myself.

At times I long for the good old days. Days like in the westerns where the good guys wore white hats, the evil doers wore black hats. In my dreams, life was simpler then. But it was also much harder. They had no SUVs.

What to do? Returning to the good old days is not possible without giving up many of the comforts I have grown used to - comforts that others eye jealously. When someone in a stone hut, without indoor plumbing, watches television they see the wide difference between my world and theirs. An ad for an air freshner does not play will to the stone hut crowd. Guess I will have to look for ways to help them get their own Fabreeze, or better yet learn how to get along without Frabreeze, drive at 55 rather than 70 and save a little more of the Earth’s resources for other members of my tribe. I hope that I am successful.

Ants Are Small

Was thinking about the size of ants...very small.

Wondering if they ever think they are at the top of life's pyramid like humans do.

Then I decided this was a silly thought.

Of course they do - that is why we must kill them.


Things to do today:

1. Call Bill Ives about blog conference this fall - Bill has a great site - http://billives.typepad.com/portals_and_km/
2. Go to Lowe's and check up on status of new blinds.
3. Arrange Hawaii. - it is such a mess.
4. Call David about his blog and set up time with Steve.
5. Make new list...this one is too long.

REJEANNE AND I IN HAWAII

Aren't you thrilled for us? We did have a good time. We stayed at the Ohana Reef Lanai - a wonderful place. Hi Tim! I will go back to Hawaii someday soon.

Just Me

Toronto

Just got back from Toronto last week. Chinatown and the India Bazaar were my favorites. Like a typical tourist I also went to the top of the CN Tower ( http://www.cntower.ca/portal/) and ate at the 360 Restaurant. Surprisingly the food actually was very tasty. I had the chicken. With my credit history I could not afford "zee duck" - see the movie L.A. Story for clarification.

Now that the blatant commercial plugs are out of the way, I can get on with telling you about the new project I am undertaking. I will be trying to help Uptown Bill's Small Mall get its ecommerce act together.

Uptown Bill's small Mall is named after Bill Sackter, a mentally challenged man, who became one of the best-known and well-loved Iowa Citians during the late 1970s and 1980s. Though involuntarily committed to a state institution for 45 years-entering at age seven-Bill returned to the community to become "a gift" to those who knew him. His remarkable life was memorialized in an Emmy award-winning movie "Bill" and a sequel "Bill on His Own!" His celebrity is recorded in a biography of his life "The Unlikely Celebrity" published by Southern Illinois University Press. The Mall is dedicated to helping handicapped people become more independent and get a stronger sense of self worth. There are a number of businesses including a used bookstore, coffeeshop, antique shop, etc. In case you missed it the website is: http://www.uptownbills.org/.

I will be helping folks start up blogs and link them to commercial enterprises like eBay. The goal will be to put a few extra dollars into their pockets and to give them an outlet into the internet universe. Also, I will be posting artwork and photos for sale/donation - any money made will be forwarded to Uptown Bill's. I don't need the money. Fame would be nice however.