et alia laughing and weeping

An Attempt to Entice Those of Ya'll Who Haven't RSVPed to My Party Yet

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:18:14 GMT

I've been working on this for a couple of days. I thought I might be able to entice some of ya'll to my party if I let ya'll know how many awesome people are coming. Plus, it lets me brag about ya'll for a bit!!

there are 111 yes or maybe RSVPs, however, so I fear that I got tired at several points and wasn't as effusive as I could have been. You should come to find out!!!!!!

RSVPed Yes:
1.Paul Gowder (ex-lawyer and philosopher I know from Barefoot)
2.Whitney Ihling (generally awesome bundle of happiness I met at Barefoot)
3.Kevin Holmes (beautiful and intelligent poet and filmmaker from Santa Cruz)
4.Wylliam Judd (highly intelligent geek from Berkeley I met thriugh Francesca – one of the best conversationalists I know)
5.Joyce Lee (irrepressible poet from Berkeley)
6.John Staedler (unique poet and musician from Half Moon Bay)
7.Christina Marcet (friend of many of my amazing magickal friends)
8.Timothy Rabiroff (chill Barefooter)
9.Christine Caskey (tattooist, comic book artist, and all-around amazingly fun soul; replaced me as Shiaw-Ling's roommate until SL decided she wanted to live in sin . . .)
10.Chris Ganser (another chill Barefooter)
11.Carol Ann (attending in spirit or by miracle; a glowing ball of light out of Atlanta I met at Burning Man)
12.Rameen Navid (sensual sincere seeker and all-around fun and loving Barefooter)
13.Mark Goodell (also attending in spirit or by miracle, a chill gaming and activist friend of mine from college)
14.Dave Jackson (intelligent, sensual, looks good in a short skirt . . . I like this ex-New Yorker pagan)
15.Charles Samuels (sensual gamer friend from Barefoot, currently playing a pacifist Doomsayer in my Hell on Earth campaign)
16.Kaitlyn Young (a wonderful young lady I met at Barefoot, often a bundle of energy with intriguing depths)
17.Magaly Carlos (a wonderfully fun hipster I met at the Cafecito open mic years ago; we rarely get the chance to hang out, so I am uber-excited to see her at the party!)
18.Iria Vasquez-Paez (an energetic and intelligent pagan I've known for a couple of years)
19.Shanon Marquardt (she's back for more – this wonderfully down-to-earth Asatruar elder has been to all of my parties thus far, I think)
20.Sophia Veleda (the praise I have for this beautiful, intelligent occultist, chaote, and Hermetic – and so much more! – is too much for the Internet to handle, so I'll just say she rawks)
21.Kate Stewart (visionary musician, highly skilled barrista, talented artist, and powerful shaman)
22.Lucia Misch (amazing young poet I wish I had been when I was her age)
23.Laurence Cramer (wonderful recent Bellarmine grad I met through McGee and Misch I'd like to get know more)
24.William Jeske (long-time slam supporter and a wonderfully eloquent and pithy speaker and writer)
25.Rudy Montanez (another hipster from Cafecito; I'm looking forward to hanging out with him more!)
26.Raffi G Kaprellian (Barefooter who is a joy to spend time with)
27.Tresha Haeffner (teacher and poet extraordinaire)
28.Melanie Ontiveros (amazing middle-school teacher)
29.Arlynne Camire (San Francisco pagan I've been hoping to get to know better)
30.Diego Gomez (blow-you-out-of-the-water high-school political poet)
31.Francesca Porto (a gamer I've known since college who is the closest thing to a joy elemental I've ever known)
32.Julie Blank (met her in the teacher credentialing program; another person I've been hoping to get to know better)
33.Christine Oswald-Tigerman (met her at Burning Man and have been kicking myself ever since for not making time to hang out with her, so I'm overjoyed that she's coming!)
34.Rebecca Susan Reagan (a friend of Dave and Molly's I don't think I've met! It makes me happy to know that I will meet new and wonderful people at my party!)
35.Amanda Chamberlain (Quirky, cute, and highly intelligent poet from Santa Cruz with WONDERFULLY classic fashion sense)
36.Veronica Davis (Conservation biologist and Norse pagan I met at Barefoot – she'll also be running In Nomine sometime soon, which makes me HAPPY!)
37.Julie Wong (a nice pagan lady I met at one of the Temple to Inanna and Dumuzi's two big events of the year; I was also her ride up to March Hares Feri Circle for a while)
38.Chris Greene (awesome bundle of curly-haired geeky fun I met through Francesca; it's never boring with him around)
39.Lupus (San Jose poet I haven't seen in some years)
40.Nyah Wynne (absolutely AWESOME writer and occultist from Oakland, now)
41.Robert Wright (teacher friend of a teacher friend; I've never really picked his brain, so I'm hoping to do so at my party this year)
42.Isabel (I'm having trouble putting a face to the name, but I met her at the Temple to Inanna and Dumuzi)

RSVPed Maybe:
1.Jennifer Gigantino (Beautiful and brilliant filmmaker and poet from the East bay I keep trying to convince to move down to San Jose)
2.Andrew Lowe (Poet from Santa Cruz with whom I've only achieved enough connection to want more – I hope he comes!)
3.Henry Allen-Tilford (I've known him since HIGH SCHOOL!!! That's 13 years now!!!!)
4.Elizabeth Woods (A wonderfully beautiful soul I met through Waxing Moon Circle but haven't seen in more than a year, amybe in more than two)
5.Amelia Coplan (A beautiful soul I met when she was dating a friend of mine)
6.Amy Cerel (an old slamhand I knew when she was sneaking into the bar to do the scores for the slam)
7.Resham McFarlane (I performed for her high school class and we've bumped into each other occasionally since)
8.Amy Ridout (One sign that you're leading a good life: you can't remember which of the several paths led you to meet awesome ladies like this one)
9.Deaidre White (Amazing poet from Oakland with whom I have had not nearly enough conversation)
10.Robert Karimi (old-school San Jose slammer who was on our first Nationals team, you know the one that tied for 1st with San Francisco)
11.Sarah Q. Morgan (Poet from Chicago)
12.Ruben Zamora (old-time slam supporter from San Jose)
13.Adam M Glickman (see note for Amy Ridout, substitue “fellow” for “lady”)
14.Kristina Robertson (San Jose slam team member and all-around awesome woman)
15.Rosa Leonardo (The Great Mother Goddess of Barefoot, this beautiful girl is one of the just plain wonderful people)
16.Victoria Fortune (I danced with her in high school and then met her in college; we've been friends ever since; she also RSVPed yes on punchbowl.com . . .)
17.Mark Niblock (chill Barefooter)
18.Renee Infelise (we used to pull this shining sun of a woman all the way from Monterey to attend the San Jose Slam; hopefully I can pull that same feat off for my party!)
19.Iris Weiss (met her while working at Pacific Autism Center for Education; haven't talked to her since that job fell through so I'm hoping she can make it!)
20.Jim McCann (A pagan I met through the Palo Alto meetup; another person I hope comes because I haven't seen them in forever)
21.JoHanna M. White (one of the many joys of PantheaCon are the random people you meet; this powerful person was one of the many I've met)
22.David Gibson (Local slam supporter with a shining soul)
23.Melissa Haegerty (San Jose Slam scorekeeper before me and SCRABBLE fanatic!)
24.Danielle DiSalvo (Chill Barefooter I haven't seen around lately, so I hope she makes it!)
25.Alycia Michelle Adame (Barefooter I haven't gotten to know very well, so I hope I see her at my party!)
26.Richard Lam (chill Barefooter; just don't play poker with him 'cause he'll shark you!)
27.Colter Hanson (old-time slam supporter I haven't seen in YEARS!)
28.Caleb Tumin (Santa Cruz slam supporter)
29.KungFu Vamp (one of my favoritest bands of all time and they're local! I am so honored that they might come!)
30.Jessica Castaneda (another co-worker from PACE; I need to get her into a D&D group one of these days 'cause she pretty much rocks)
31.Alex Sage (I hope this Discordian can make it out from Indiana, 'cause he would love all of ya'll)
32.Avital Birger (Awesome and beautiful Barefooter)
33.Kennita Watson (brilliant computer scientist and Duckling Pagan Lunch's resident “practicing agnostic”)
34.Mike Jensen (the very epitome and archetype of the chill Barefooter; he doesn't know this, but he's probably in that elite group of my favorite people)
35.Kenn Rodriguez (another in spirit or miracle RSVP, Kenn is a wonderful and friendly poet and sportswriter from Burque)
36.Anthony R. Miller (a long-time poet, friend, co-worker, and fellow lover of the San Jose Slam – he ran it for a few years)
37.Jenny Babaeva (beautiful, friendly, and intelligent Barefooter)
38.Rachelle Stiggall (an old-time slam supporter I knew back when she was sneaking into the bar to help out our helpers!)
39.Camille Simms (Met her at the Cafecito Open Mic; she's wonderfully fun to hang out with!)
40.Kevin Lawson (I must have met him at Barefoot; I'm having a brainfart at the moment, but I'm hoping he comes to fix the brainfart!)
41.April Sanders (my classmate from was it 6th grade? I haven't seen her in probably 10-13 years! I'm SOO excited about the possibility of her coming!)
42.Murdoc F. Attanasio (Ms. Attanasio, as I call her; sexy and with great fashion sense, I need to call her even if she's not coming . . . :-) Met her at Barefoot)
43.Erik Bergesen (Met him at one of Zoe's party and nearly plotzed when he gave me his e-mail – I'd been following his posts on an RPG mailing list for YEARS!)
44.Maria Duong (One of Barefoot's many adopted teenagers!)
45.Nika Clelland (Beautiful, fashionable, and intelligent Barefooter)
46.Kelsey Bowen (Tied with Kate Stewart for BEST HUGGER EVER!!!!)
47.Raymond A (chill Barefooter)
48.Christine Pohorsky (Beautiful, energetic, and an all-around pink-haired little bite of happy in my life!)
49.Maxwell Aloysius Borkenhagen (I idolized and crushed on his brother in high school and then run into Max through poetry slam and Barefoot; he rawks as much as his brother used to)
50.Alex Wong (knew the dude in high school AND college, but never got really close with him, so I'm really hoping he comes!!!)
51.Brad Eitner (chill, smart Barefooter)
52.Sean Nolen (I usually see this wonderful man with his girlfriend, usually when he's rushing her away; I hope to get a good solid conversation in if he comes to my party)
53.Scorpiana Xlynn (Slam poet who takes no prisoners, she's one to have in your corner)
54.Nathan Vogel (one of Mike McGee's old Campbell friends from before I met him; I've only met many of these folk for little snatches of time with him, so I hope he comes to my party!)
55.Selina Lilies (Highly skilled hairdresser I met at the Cafecito's open mic; she's the only one I ever visit!)
56.Ronald Dex Chapman (one of my first poet friends, from HIGH SCHOOL!!! I reconnected with him for a short minute a couple of years back, but I keep thinking I should do so again, so I'm praying he comes!)
57.Jaylee Alde (bad-ass poet from Oakland)
58.Gee Willikers (amazing poet from San Jose with an occult side I have rarely been able to dig into; for a long time, he was the only SJ poet dedicated to bringing something new to the stage each week)
59.Daniel Rollings (all-around likeable slam poet from San Jose)
60.Slamarillo Poetry Slam (man, if every slam poet from Amarillo came out to my party, it would be AWESOME; I'm fairly certain that this is an “in spirit or by some miracle” response)
61.Kimberly Teodoro (a classmate of mine all the way back, I think, to Kindergarten! I reconnected with her thanks to Facebook and think it would be AWESOME to see her again!)
62.Tommie StarChild (another “in spirit or by some miracle” response, I believe, Tommie is a Feri and Inanna devotee out of San Diego whom I would LOVE to get to know better)
63.Amy Swain (friendly and open, I met Amy through a teacher friend of mine; she's yet another person I would love to get to know better)
64.Crystal Biro Hughes (in many ways, possibly my favorite aunt)
65.Aaron Stephenson (a Facebook friend of mine from Boston; another “in spirit or by some miracle”)
66.Mechele Stolar (I met her, as I recall, through my ex-roommate Shiaw-Ling or through Victoria, whom I met through Shiaw-Ling, kinda :-) ; she's pretty cool)
67.Tamalynn Estrin (a local pagan)
68.Will Rinehart (chill and awesome Barefooter, singing rap songs on his guitar)
69.David Canavese (my single longest-running friend; I've maintained a relationship with him for THIRTEEN YEARS!!!; he teaches ball-room dancing and is the single most amazingest Star Wars fan I've ever met; also, very well-read on ancient Egypt)

My Birthday Party!!!! It's That Time Again -- Come Celebrate my successful completion of 3 x 3 x 3
RSVP in comments, on Facebook, or using Punchbowl.com. E-mail, call, message, or comment for the address. This is the public post, without address or contact info. Friend me if you want to see the private post, with said information.

Host: Chris/Grok/Stacey/Tristissima/Princess Teacup/et cetera
Type: Party - Birthday Party
Network: Global
Start Time: Friday, July 17, 2009 at 7:30pm
End Time: Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 12:30pm
Location: My parents' house
Details (with address were posted privately @ http://tristissima.livejournal.com/123307.html)

Description: Another year is passing and, as always, I desire to be surrounded by my family as it pulls the last dregs of its hugging away. And by family, I mean YOU!!!! Yes, you.

OK, maybe not you ;-) But everyone else, most definitely! Seriopusly, if you are reading this, you are my family, and I want to see you.

I am currently passing through the Mysteries of Venus at the Temple of Inanna and Dumuzi (it's been a hard, long ride), and that mystery is all about both sensual pleasure and deep connection (and, for me at least, possibly hunger). If you are STILL undecided about you coming (especially if you are far away), I will throw that in as one last plea -- come because the gods want you too!!! :-)

Kids are welcome!!! I love them, they (sometimes) love me. If you are planning to bring young folk, just announce it in your reply so that others know; I worry that they might not have enough to enjoy without people closer to their age. The final decision, of ocurse, is yours and theirs.

As always, this is a BYOE (bring-your-pwn-everything) event. This helps keep the strain on my impoverished budget limited, and allows ya'll to show off your impeccable good taste and the sparkling creative bonfire just beneath your skin.

When I say "everything", by the way, I mean just that -- food, drink, games, art, friends, bathing suit (pool and spa available). Particularly, last year the party had a nice salon element as I performed poetry, Francesca and Season sung, and Cellojoe not only played the cello but accompanied himself by beatboxing. I'd like to encourage that. I probably won't be setting off any space or stage as I think the key is the informal nature, so just come prepared if you want!

Again, as always, this will be at my parents' house, with the attendant concerns about the flagrancy of certain behaviors (particularly those the legislature has chosen to overstep its powers and disapprove of). Perhaps most notably (and I know most depressing to more of ya'll), the hot tub is clothing-required.

There shall again be a room set aside for the twin purposes of introverts needed to get away from the rest of the party and for, shall we say, certain kinds of social interaction. The general rule for the latter, of course, is that all forms of social interaction and physicality are welcome, but if you or someone else begins to feel uncomfortable with said expression, please move it into said room (remember that, if someone's children are present, the discomfort level might be higher than otherwise, so be more ready to go to the other room). I have noted the contradiction in using one room for these two purposes and will endeavour to separate them, but no promises, kk?

Finally, again as always, floor and limited bedding/couches are available for those wish to stay overnight or who believe they might engage in behavior that would prevent them from safely or enjoyably leaving over the course of the night. I'm all about the sleep-overs!!!!

Gifts are unnecessary (beyond contributions to the party, but even with those, there's likely to be plenty) but greatly enjoyed. If you truly have your heart set on bringing me something and can't figure out what, I do have (very limited) wishlists on both GoodReads (http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2225384?shelf=to-read) and bn.com (http://my.barnesandnoble.com/communityportal/WishList.aspx?x=27151806).

Astrobarry.com Horoscope for June 6-12

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:36:37 GMT

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Before it becomes any more lucid, it's liable to get a whole lot more unintelligible and obscure. Before you know exactly how you're likeliest to proceed with the remainder of your year (or at least the next big chunk of it), you should expect your head to spin around on your neck a couple full revolutions, Exorcist-style, so that you aren't sure which way is 'forward' or which end is 'up'. Consider the rest of your July, then, to be a grab-bag of mixed feelings, irrational fears, unforeseen developments and unintended aftereffects… which, to be honest, Cancer, isn't actually as bad as it sounds, if you can surrender to the unknowableness of it all and find some thrills in anticipating where the little silver ball will finally land when this great Wheel of Fortune next stops its periodic frantic revolutions. August promises some benefic outgrowths from this whirlwind, as well as a much-favored ability for you to enjoy the simple pleasures of the season… while September and October point to you actually making some advancing headway at asserting your efforts with greater directness and self-possession. But that still leaves the remainder of this month enveloped in a thick mist of dewdrops blown around by deceptively ferocious wind gusts, making it near impossible to detect where your every next step will land… and consequently making it wise to move slowly, appreciate each new glimpse of scenery, and forget about deciphering much information from the landmarks and signs.

This one's from miniver

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:21:26 GMT

Thank you, uncledark!!!!

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:03:44 GMT

Wonderfully Paradoxical Horoscopy! This'll be a blast to reconcile!

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:19:08 GMT

From freewillastrology.com:

Cancer Horoscope for week starting July 2, 2009

The ancient Chinese sage Lao Tse said, "People of the highest caliber, upon hearing about Taoism, follow it and practice it immediately. People of average caliber, hearing about Taoism, reflect for a while and then experiment. People of the lowest caliber, hearing about Taoism, let out a big laugh." Now substitute the words "your splashy new ideas" for "Taoism" in Lao Tse's quote and you'll have your horoscope for this week, Cancerian. For added punch, remember what he said in another context: "No idea can be considered valuable until a thousand people have laughed at it."

From www.astrobarry.com:

Cancer Horoscope for Week of June 29-July 5, 2009

CANCER (June 21-July 22): As the week progresses, you'll grow increasingly clearer on the intuitive level as to what's going on with a certain someone special— a trend that comes to a head with Friday's (Jul 3) welcome of Mercury, the great data-processor, to your sign. However, Cancer…and this is a massively noteworthy 'however'…the potential to actually communicate the insight you're settling into is robustly blocked by Mercury's weekend opposition to Pluto in your 7th, so don't assume the other person will greet your observations with open arms. Likelier than not, they won't. In fact, should you (imprudently) declare your surety to 'em, without considering the knotty psychological reasons why they might resist what you're saying (which probably have little or nothing to do with you personally), you may receive an earful-and-a-half of non-conforming nastiness— which, knowing you, could knock you into a spiral of self-doubt and cause you to suddenly become unsure of what you were totally sure of just a few moments earlier. Do you really want to put yourself at such risk? Though your intentions toward this someone may be immaculate, the danger you're liable to flirt with is unwisely underestimating the intricate mix of feelings they're lugging along with 'em…and consequently misunderstanding how very differently each of you may be moved to navigate this situation. Consciously or not, they could be driven to disrupt all logic you bring to the table. Wait 'til next week to discuss.

Thankful Thursday and Conscious Commitments

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:57:52 GMT

Several of my friends do this, and I've been meaning to for at least a year, so here goes!

* I am thankful for the random confluences of other people's creativity that allow me to Dadaistically create new, authentic, and intriguing creative pieces from their work (I've become obssessed with a random D&D/comic book setting recently).
* Beautiful friends with amazing fashion sense (Marie and Jessica, i'm looking at you!)
* My grandmother for putting me up and putting up with me.
* The time and flexibility I have thanks to my funemployment to attempt to meet some of her needs.
* The approximately 100 people who might be attending my birthday party on July 17th!

I consciously commit to
* Finding strategies and ways to get my emotional and connective needs met in the press of my family this July 4th weekend.
* Being there, if necessary, for a friend of mine in Santa Cruz who might need my presence.
* Sending out at least 2 resumes a day.
* Bumming fewer cigarettes from my friends.
* Bleeding into the ocean the way I was told to many moons ago by one of the Bellwethers (D, I think it was?)

The Story Of The Demon Prahlada (Reposted from ekabhumi)

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:44:06 GMT

At the Mad Hatter's Occultist Soiree yesterday, we decided that the topic for next month's tea party shall be the nature of the Self. What do I see when I get home but this wonderful post by Ekhabumi?

Folks--

--Here is an excerpt from the story of Prahlada, which is found in Vashistha's Yoga. It is lovely!

"O self, you are the fragrance in the flower known as the body; you are the nectar in the moon known as the body; you are the essence in the herb known as the body; you are the coolness in the ice known as the body. Just as there is butter in milk, there is friendship or attachment in the body. You dwell in this body even as fire dwells in wood. You are the light in all luminous objects; you are the inner light that makes knowledge of objects possible. You are the strength of the elephant known as mind. You are both the light and the heat of the fire of self-knowledge."

--Recently, a friend on LJ was musing on the strange goings-on in his dreams and wondering about his demons. So I mentioned there are many examples of demons becoming enlightened, but at the time I had no Hindu sources. When I was glancing through Vashistha's Yoga recently, I noticed this section underlined. Understand, I'm no guru, so this is just my own opinion: What is remarkable about this story is that it is about a demon who attained enlightenment by contemplating the Self, and by recognizing his own self as divine and no more or less than the enlightened god Vishnu. In this story, his realization was free of obstacles! In other words, one does not need to suffer even when one lives in Hell! In a certain view, the "demons" of Hindu mythology are a metaphor for one's own desires. Hence, the tale of Prahlada is an allegory of abiding in a state of equinimity (Vishnu is "The Sustainer") by a one-pointed DESIRE to recognize oneself as divine. I think it is also worth noting that in this tale there is beauty as well as horror in the Demon Realm, just as there is in the Human Realm. When understood a part of the greater harmony of all things, it is difficult to find wrongness in any being.

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:02:44 GMT

11:10 Unexpectedly free for the day (RPG got canceled). If you wanna hang, just call! #
21:01 9:00 and 80 degrees on a June evening. There is no other time I feel this gentle or romantic. I've never mined this time for its joy fully. #

Having witnesed Princess Teacup while was performing eir daily, a-HEM, Twitter "business", you shall now be transformed into biscotti.

You can thank LoudTwitter for your current predicament.

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:03:20 GMT

16:02 Off to the Perg in Santa Cruz to meet up with Season. Any Cruz folk feel free to come say hi! #
18:30 Shame is like a dildo; it only belongs in the bedroom and even then you don't always need it. #

Having witnesed Princess Teacup while was performing eir daily, a-HEM, Twitter "business", you shall now be transformed into biscotti.

You can thank LoudTwitter for your current predicament.

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:03:34 GMT

13:58 My "might do" clndr: bit.ly/FOCig
/Los_Angeles #
14:01 Updated calendar (this 1's what Im actually doing): bit.ly/HoD4i
/Los_Angeles #
18:53 On my way to San Jose Freecycle Meetup. #

Having witnesed Princess Teacup while was performing eir daily, a-HEM, Twitter "business", you shall now be transformed into biscotti.

You can thank LoudTwitter for your current predicament.

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:03:59 GMT

18:16 Headed to San Jose City Hall to investigate their plans surrounding art in the coming three decades. Room 120, if you wanna meet up w/ me. #

Having witnesed Princess Teacup while was performing eir daily, a-HEM, Twitter "business", you shall now be transformed into biscotti.

You can thank LoudTwitter for your current predicament.

magickal utopian pedagogical Project, Draft 1.5 (MORE COMMENTS PLEASE!)

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:13:19 GMT

I attempted to address the opacity problem many of you have expressed, though I don't believe I made much progress (hence draft 1.5). I alos took a few suggestions from Christa, which I think were well-taken. I'm still trying to figure out/find the best ways to define some of the jargon -- do any of them work yet? -- but I will post again when I feel better about those elements.

Here it is:

The magickal utopian pedagogical project

Definitions:
e/em/eir: A set of three gender-neutral pronouns. In addition to being my preferred pronouns, their usage in my writing allows me to avoid ambiguous, awkward, or sexist usages of pronouns in generic or uncertain situations.
Conscientizado: Brazilian Portuguese for “conscientization”. A key process in what Brazilian educator Paolo Freire called “man's historic vocation to become more human”, itself an important part of education.
Deep Reality: That which creates our experience, whatever that might be. It is impossible to describe Deep Reality because our experience of it is mediated by the tools we use to experience it.
Deep Self/Younger Self/Talking Self: A system of three souls posited by the Feri tradition of witchcraft which, among other things, provides a language to discuss the mediations of our knowledge and understanding through direct unmediated experience, imagery, and finally language.

It would seem that the statement in which I find it the hardest to poke holes is that I seem to be experiencing things. From this resistance to argument, I conclude that to experience things is the purpose of life. In somewhat circular logic, I find that this leads to a belief in active, intentful, and mindful participation and presence as a good. That is, my virtues, values, and ethics depend more on the how than the what, more on the experience than the action. Thus, the active, intentful, and mindful participation and presence in the experience of things can be construed as the highest good, the ultimate virtue. The pursuit of this virtue seems to be analogous to the process Paolo Freire referred to as conscientizado. Accordingly, I claim it as the ultimate goal of education.

The magickal utopian pedagogical project is a radical and experimental reconstruction of education towards this goal. This project is guided largely by (1) a mystical approach in which both the unmediated interaction between the learner's world-creating Deep Self and the Deep Reality which creates eir experiences and the more obvious relationship of the two across the mediations of experience, Younger Self's imagery, and Talking Self's language is the focus, (2) a dedication to the problematization of its own theory and to the temporariness of belief, theory, and structure, (3) an acidic interaction with the power and hierarchy that dissolves its functioning in the classroom in order to create an environment where students' Will is grown with the fertilizer of challenge in every moment, (4) a holism that recognizes the systemic and interrelated nature of life and existence and seeks to honor that fact through its replication in lesson construction, (5) a vision of the interaction between ideas and memes with the tangible world that morally compels every individual to develop eir own visions, dreams, and constructions of the universe and to work with these intangible lifeforms towards the end of change in the manifest world, and (6) a stubborn and unshakable resistance to anything which decontextualizes learning, knowledge, and cognition. In the pursuit of these guiding approaches, occult, religious, artistic, and explicitly political approaches are brought together under the auspices of magickal utopian pedagogy . A short and incomplete list would include queer pedagogy, Paolo Freire's sequence of pedagogies, chaos magic, Waldorf methods, Open Source Technologies, unschooling, Situationism, dada, gift economy, anarchist pedagogy, Sufism, and many m

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:03:01 GMT

10:18 Happy solstice and new moon, everyone! #
15:50 finished two books this weekend: Free At Last {about Sudbury Valley School} and Gaia Eros. #

Having witnesed Princess Teacup while was performing eir daily, a-HEM, Twitter "business", you shall now be transformed into biscotti.

You can thank LoudTwitter for your current predicament.

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:02:44 GMT

11:12 Reading about Sudbury Valley while my brother drives me to Santa Cruz for Father's Day. #
16:27 Oddly, headed back to Willow Glen for Dancing in the Streets. Afterwards, we're headed BACK to Santa Cruz. #
17:14 @fortoria Dunno. Sometime after 9. #
21:45 BACK to Santa Cruz . . . #

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werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:04:05 GMT

09:35 @warrenlain I certainly can be #
11:25 Check out my GoogleCalendar: bit.ly/HoD4i
/Los_Angeles #
16:19 Foot Foot Foot! I'll see ya'll when you take your shoes off! I'm headed to Barefoot! #

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werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 07:03:11 GMT

12:48 Come to my birthday party on July 17th! Details on FB, LJ, and here: bit.ly/aXxnQ #
18:49 Heading off to the Foot. Will charge phone a bit on the way. #
23:01 Musicians & poets: My cousin wants me to change my latest poem into lyrics for his debut album. Can any1 give some tips in person sometime? #

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Recipe: Banana Nut Pasta

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:09:37 GMT

I made this for Zoe's birthday party over the weekend. It seemed to go over really well. Many thanks to my grandmother, who kept me in check -- the root beer would have been too much :-) (Oddly, she was more helpful than my mother ever has been -- she managed to get past her "everyone's going to get sick" phase and actually start considering flavor profiles with me)

Banana Nut Pasta

1 banana, mushed up
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon chipotle Tabasco (this could probably be increased; I don't know how much of the spice came through the sugar curtain)
1 tablespoon hummus
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 cup mushroom pieces and stems
about 1 1/2 cups jarred tomato sauce
1 can peas
about 2 pounds pasta, cooked
about 3/4 cup grated Parmiggiano
about 1/2 cup roasted almonds, chopped

Use a fork to mix banana and first 8 ingredients well. Add to tomato sauce and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Add peas and simmer for another 15-20 minutes (grand total of simmering: about 30 minutes). Toss into pasta. Cover with cheese and then with almonds.

The recipe, as it stands, was perhaps a little light on sauce; I may need to tweak the pasta:sauce ratio. I'm considering a number of interesting tweaks, as well:

1) making it more self-consciously similar to banana-nut bread, if possible.
2) adding artichokes/artichoke hearts.
3) mixing in a tabbouleh recipe.

All three at once might be interesting, but probably too much. Two at a time, maybe. Of course, none of them might actually work out.

What do ya'll think of the recipe and/or the tweaks?

My Birthday Party!!!! It's That Time Again -- Come Celebrate my successful completion of 3 x 3 x 3

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:31:10 GMT

RSVP in comments, on Facebook, or using Punchbowl.com. E-mail, call, message, or comment for the address. This is the public post, without address or contact info. Friend me if you want to see the private post, with said information.

Host: Chris/Grok/Stacey/Tristissima/Princess Teacup/et cetera
Type: Party - Birthday Party
Network: Global
Start Time: Friday, July 17, 2009 at 7:30pm
End Time: Saturday, July 18, 2009 at 12:30pm
Location: My parents' house

Description: Another year is passing and, as always, I desire to be surrounded by my family as it pulls the last dregs of its hugging away. And by family, I mean YOU!!!! Yes, you.

OK, maybe not you ;-) But everyone else, most definitely! Seriopusly, if you are reading this, you are my family, and I want to see you.

I am currently passing through the Mysteries of Venus at the Temple of Inanna and Dumuzi (it's been a hard, long ride), and that mystery is all about both sensual pleasure and deep connection (and, for me at least, possibly hunger). If you are STILL undecided about you coming (especially if you are far away), I will throw that in as one last plea -- come because the gods want you too!!! :-)

Kids are welcome!!! I love them, they (sometimes) love me. If you are planning to bring young folk, just announce it in your reply so that others know; I worry that they might not have enough to enjoy without people closer to their age. The final decision, of ocurse, is yours and theirs.

As always, this is a BYOE (bring-your-pwn-everything) event. This helps keep the strain on my impoverished budget limited, and allows ya'll to show off your impeccable good taste and the sparkling creative bonfire just beneath your skin.

When I say "everything", by the way, I mean just that -- food, drink, games, art, friends, bathing suit (pool and spa available). Particularly, last year the party had a nice salon element as I performed poetry, Francesca and Season sung, and Cellojoe not only played the cello but accompanied himself by beatboxing. I'd like to encourage that. I probably won't be setting off any space or stage as I think the key is the informal nature, so just come prepared if you want!

Again, as always, this will be at my parents' house, with the attendant concerns about the flagrancy of certain behaviors (particularly those the legislature has chosen to overstep its powers and disapprove of). Perhaps most notably (and I know most depressing to more of ya'll), the hot tub is clothing-required.

There shall again be a room set aside for the twin purposes of introverts needed to get away from the rest of the party and for, shall we say, certain kinds of social interaction. The general rule for the latter, of course, is that all forms of social interaction and physicality are welcome, but if you or someone else begins to feel uncomfortable with said expression, please move it into said room (remember that, if someone's children are present, the discomfort level might be higher than otherwise, so be more ready to go to the other room). I have noted the contradiction in using one room for these two purposes and will endeavour to separate them, but no promises, kk?

Finally, again as always, floor and limited bedding/couches are available for those wish to stay overnight or who believe they might engage in behavior that would prevent them from safely or enjoyably leaving over the course of the night. I'm all about the sleep-overs!!!!

Gifts are unnecessary (beyond contributions to the party, but even with those, there's likely to be plenty) but greatly enjoyed. If you truly have your heart set on bringing me something and can't figure out what, I do have (very limited) wishlists on both GoodReads (http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2225384?shelf=to-read) and bn.com (http://my.barnesandnoble.com/communityportal/WishList.aspx?x=27151806).

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:03:24 GMT

14:42 RT @miniver: The revolution may not be televised, but the 'net is on the case bit.ly/pHsM1 #

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werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:03:31 GMT

11:10 @fortoria you deserve to smack me :-) but you know I live with my G-ma in WG, right? Call me, I'm funemployed and so available for hanging. #

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werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:03:22 GMT

14:02 is off to Aqui for lunch with mei mater, ava, fraterque, then SJSU to deal with some shit, then I think the Foot. #
16:43 is at the Foot now. Come by and say hi! #

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New Poem (This One's Actually Mine): For Me the God Shiva (First Draft)

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:36:10 GMT

Aum im hrim krim ardhanashvarai namaha
Aum im hrim krim ardhanashvarai namaha
Aum im hrim krim ardhanashvarai namaha

For me the god Shiva looks like nothing special
Neither bulging with unbelievable muscles or pale scrawny and geniusdeliciouslooking
He is nonetheless the god my eyes mouth and cock
primp to impress

When I peek into the universe next door
where I am living the life I keep trying to hide from
I come
close enough to see thickdark sweat struggling uncertainly to climb down his skin
Every hesitant step doublechecking dangerous destination gathers more ash making its name mud

I tell him so quietly only his shoulder hears me
that I know that he once challenged the god YHWH to see
who loved this world more

YHWH fired the first shot shooting his only son Yeshu to Earth
like a cannonball to die and then brought him back to life
the cheat
He bathed this world in blood and called it redemption

Shiva wild stillbodied Shiva paused in his prancing through the forest
his hand still holding his dick
to contemplate how best to win this wager
His own fertility gifted him with an easy option
He could sacrifice elephantheaded Ganesha and peacockriding Karttikeya where YHWH could sacrifice only Yeshu
but Shiva looked at this trembling jewel we call home impeccably decorated with flaws glorified by its troubles
and decided that sacrifices even of Wealth and War would be insulting
Besides he thought redemption would be redundant

So Shiva opened that extra eye of his that he normally kept clamped tightly shut
and looked upon the world with sight stronger than that granted us by accident of imaginal genetics
a gaze so lustfully hot that it burned the world to gentle ash

Why did you do that I asked him once he replied
True beauty is meant to be worn

and then went on to tell me how he would lift this solid liquid to his face
so deliberately that his hands wasted not a single flake in fake steam
His face covered his hands would then roam his notsospeciallooking body
fingers filling every crevice and shadow every wrinkle and hidden ticklespot
with this finest of greys

I shivered when he told me that and not from the cold
He reached over from the unverse next door
where I am actually living the life I keep trying to hide from
to hug me so hard I still find it hard to breathe sometimes
the tobacco helps
and now the strong sweat of this hug is tearing away the world that separates us
as if all its beauty was

well hell I don't know
you tell me

Aum im hrim krim ardhanashvarai namaha
Aum im hrim krim ardhanashvarai namaha
Aum im hrim krim ardhanashvarai namaha

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 07:03:46 GMT

15:10 Just posted a description of my magickal utopian pedagogical project! Please take a look: tristissima.livejournal.com/121587.html #

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LOOKING FOR FEEDBACK, QUESTIONS, CRITIQUE, OR ACCUSATIONS -- Please look this over and comment!

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:08:58 GMT

This is my attempt to sum up the magickal utopian pedagogical project, the guiding project for my work in education as a whole. This is intended to be a powerful summation of my position and goals in this work, of what I intend to create (in terms of a classroom, a school, a curriculum) and what I intend to achieve (working with my "students"). I hope to use this summation of my project as a way to explain myself to future employers, educators (such as grad schools), community members, students, and possible collaborators, as well as a personal document to guide my thinking, writing, experimenting, and planning.

I would highly appreciate it if ya'll could comment on this and give me feedback, whether a philosopher's feedback on the thinking, a critical comment on its utility for the purposes laid out above, possible resources of which I might be unaware, et cetera. Thank you SO MUCH!!!!

The magickal utopian pedagogical project

It would seem that the statement in which I find it the hardest to poke holes (with which it is the hardest, but not impossible, to argue) is that I seem to be experiencing things. From this, I conclude that this is the purpose of life: to experience things. In somewhat circular logic (though isn't all logic tautology at some point?), I find that this leads to a belief in active, intentful, and mindful participation and presence as a good. That is, my virtues, values, and ethics depend more on the how than the what, more on the experience than the action. Thus, the active, intentful, and mindful participation and presence in the experience of things can be construed as the highest good, the ultimate virtue. The pursuit of this virtue seems to be analogous to, if not the same as, the process Paolo Freire referred to as conscientizado. Accordingly, I claim it as the ultimate goal of education.

The magickal utopian pedagogical project is a radical and experimental reconstruction of education towards this goal. This project is guided largely by (1) a mystical approach in which the occult (in its original sense) unmediated interaction between the learner's world-creating Deep Self and the Deep Reality which creates eir experiences (a mystical experience, satori, samadhi, charism, etc.) and the more obvious relationship of the two across the mediations of experience, Younger Self's imagery, and Talking Self's language is the focus, (2) a dedication to the problematization of its own theory and to the temporariness of belief, theory, and structure, (3) an acidic interaction with the power and hierarchy that dissolves its functioning in the classroom, (4) a holism that recognizes the systemic and interrelated nature of life and existence and seeks to honor that fact through its replication in lesson construction, (5) a vision of the interaction
between ideas and memes with the tangible world that morally compels every individual to develop eir own visions, dreams, and constructions of the universe and to work with these intangible lifeforms towards the end of change in the manifest world, and (6) a stubborn and unshakable resistance to anything which decontextualizes learning, knowledge, and cognition. In the pursuit of these guiding approaches, occult, religious, artistic, and explicitly political approaches are brought together under the auspices of magickal utopian pedagogy (part of a larger project called mup, which stands for, among other things, momentary unifying principle). A short and incomplete list would include queer pedagogy, Paolo Freire's sequence of pedagogies, chaos magic, Waldorf methods, Open Source Technologies, unschooling, Situationism, dada, gift economy, anarchist pedagogy, Sufism, and many more.

Summer Slumberfest 09 Group Poem

werd2thenerd@yahoo.com — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:38:12 GMT

From the veiled light of Blooming clouds
your dog barks. Neighbor's rock music. You want to throw something.
Instead you swallow motion, burp sunshine smiles, forgive no one.
Dreaming of a time long ago
Remembering a time when the world was a
better place
Like Pleasanton. But not Pleasanton.
sort of looked like Hitler's wet dream.
To most, sickening it must seem.
But . . .
Doctor? Yes. Diagnosis insane!
My hands are sweaty. I soaked half this
sheet with it. I HATE THAT!
But I like you. If only I had the courage to tell you.
I own the moon!! Pacifism Rules!!
Ive hated everything today. But I love tonight!
My name is crystal, I make great coffee. Call me.
Greatest in the Greater Bay. You know.
What do you know? you know? No? well then
neither do I. aye?
Being Big is not a condition
Its a way of life
Obesity Rules! Yeah!
People Know the value of everything but
they can't pay the price
And what is the price of Peace anyway?
reese's was her gift!
I'll stab you in the face with my book of knowledge
LAZERBEAM HEADLIGHTS I'LL shoot you in the eyes
What hell is this, for meeting eyes to size you up as meat.
My meat is as rotten as your soul but my shit still tastes better.
I eat it and throw My socks at the thunder clouds
Mistaking uvula for vulva I tickle the back of your throat with my
ring finger
BAOLA.
Married hope river running a sea of you
A rushing you rappid
CONTINUE CONTINUE CONTINUE,
to be at peace, to be happy, then say you can't always be happy
but you can be at peace . . .
You would want such a thing, you trollopy boggan
ugh. Of course you'd “automatically” use the
word 'trollopy.' What are you? Microsoft Word's
fucking paperclip suggestion bot?
Bot, you are crazy.
Says the psychiatrist who dreams of being a cardiologist, so
she could heal her own broken heart.
In her coffee, she sees the surgery, with cotton-ball scalpel and rabbit cooked in olive oil for
an anaesthetic – just like Nani used to make.
Nani was a hooker from Harlem
she was fascinated w/ rabbit, had had an obsession with them for year
disgusting discussion Style. No shame in your emberless
furnace. No snow in your TV. No tint in your
tap. Baby's as cold as a “SOLD” Sign on your soul
It is not all about what you Know but what
you don't Know.
So whaddaya Know . . .
TURNS QUICK TO ??? US, MISS A PREFECT
SICKNESS, AND I CAN'T BELIEVE
IN SUCH A BLAWN EXPRESSION
I can't breath when you makethat face. The look in your
eyes w/ your cracked smile. My heart races makes my veins
shake like the 1989 earthquake
This part of the poem is for people who don't like sex that much,
& have better things to do than romance.
BONERS! there's nothing better
Than nothing is better than nothing
And everything is too bright to conceive of
Still, I call you that.
I call you nothing
Because there is no thing that
could take your place
heart shaped locket
pulp of passion fruit
I call you nothing
because if you where
it would consume me
Knowing that my rose nudging, pocking its way
through the concreat because shaped
stems can't Kiss life to flowers.
As the sun kisses life to our skin.
the smiles beaming sweet
gleaming
But the tears come streaming
from out our eyes
I remember your crooked smile,
your smooth smooth thighs
Lets duet in ways that make us feel good
make that sacred sound
Let's make our, solos,
face ourselves, our streets our fEATS! And dance–
cut feet, wet hair, naked faces
But for now this is nothing but the dream I dream
befor I'm sharked awake by a one night stand
our music disruped by the snores of a stranger
why the hell did I do that?