dasila's euphor!um

morocco

2011-05-26T14:59:00.005-07:00

As-Salamu Alaykum,

Just off the sky boat from Spain and Africa.

Hope all is well with you.

.

metal rabbit

2011-01-08T13:08:00.010-07:00

The Chinese New Year is February 3rd this year.

Good-bye year of the Tiger - Hello year of the Metal Rabbit.

(Although... there are whispers that he prefers to be called
The Iron Bunny, followed by the sound of a gong.)

This is the ideal time to have a feng shui consultation for the upcoming year.
Hey...whadda ya know!
I have advanced certification from The American Institute of Feng Shui to do just that! Give me a call at Ling Ling Designs if the Metal Bunny needs to find a cozy nest in your home.

inside job

2011-01-01T16:30:00.010-07:00

I saw a bumper sticker recently that summed up
all of my resolutions for this New Year.

Happiness, it's an inside job.

Surely you will find happiness if you
click on the foto above to see it bigger
in all of its fantastico-happiness-making glory!

coconuts of wakefulness

2010-03-25T11:44:00.006-07:00

In the jungles of flaming ego,
May there be a cool iceberg of bodhicitta

On the racetrack of bureaucracy,
May there be the walk of the elephant.

May the sumptuous castle of arrogance,
Be destroyed by vajra confidence.

In the garden of gentle sanity,
May you be bombarded with coconuts of wakefulness.

Chögyam Trungpa Rimpoche
(February 28, 1939 – April 4, 1987)

blue moon

2010-03-16T14:04:00.005-07:00

Once every 5 years I start a new class.
This is it!

Look!
For the moment

your bones

are clothed in flesh.

Let's dance.

-Jeannie Zandi

part deux

2010-03-12T14:24:00.006-07:00

One More Time! Go Team Siva!
a u m .. A u m .. AUM NAMAH SIVA!!!

If you missed it the first time here's your chance:
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
6:30 pm

soul train

2010-02-20T19:37:00.010-07:00

Okey Folks,
Just to drop it down a notch after sivaratri and have
some good clean fun, let me say--
this is what you have been waiting for!

I don't sprekenzie doitch but it is so obvious what this
German reviewer had to say,
"Die Afros, die Moves… wunderbar!"
Just click the link already...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7MiG2fe8lE

And who knew?
Soul Train has been an actual super heroine all this time!
I don't have a clear understanding of what her
powers are but I do hope she can save the
"Un-Funky" from their "lack of groove".

svaha!

2010-02-18T17:53:00.013-07:00

Pranams to All of you lovely Koothambalam dancers!
This is only the 1st try at organizing the photos which Conrad took.
There is also a video in the works for you.
I just wanted to send you something
quick...there will be much more to come.

sivaratri 2010

2010-02-17T21:27:00.007-07:00

Wow, that sure was a... massive week (more like
several lifetimes) of preparations for our 3 hour
Koothambalam cheer leading for Siva event.

It is really so sad how many people were accidentally turned
away due to a really absurdly- dreadful communication mishap.
It has taken me a few days of decompression from it all
but i think I'm almost there. We discovered once again that
we need an EVEN bigger space (temple) next year.

Seems the only thing left to say is:
om triyambakam yajāmahe sugandhim pushTivardhanam,

urvārukamiva bandhanān mrrityormokshiya māmrritāt.

We worship Siva - The Three-Eyed (tryambakam) Lord (yajamahe);
Who is fragrant (sugandhim) and nourishes (pushti)
and grows (vardhanam) all beings.
As the ripened cucumber (urvarukamiva) is liberated (bandhanaan)
from its bondage to the creeper when it fully ripens;
May He liberate us (mokshiya) from death (mrityor),
for the sake of immortality (maamritaat).

Here is the lovely invite that Ariana made:

Whooping it up while smashing coconuts at the end
was a big hit, as always and Janaki's infinite iddlys
were stellar.

finally a finale

2010-01-05T12:38:00.020-07:00

Goodbye 2009 and happy happy 2010 to you!
Last year was a doozie...let's move on and start with an invocation, may we be drenched in all the past, present and future delight that we can handle, umm..yah...let's find more delight than we can handle, that sounds like more fun. I think I'll try to keep it simple and start with breath. Yes, let's all plan to breathe this year, shall we?

I found myself reluctant to vocalize any formal resolutions this year. It kind of implies that I haven't been committed to giving as much as I can while dancing in the oneness of it all, until this year... and that would be sad.

The universe gave me an awesome gift for the New Year; the utter relief of having found what seems to be a remedy for the agonizing nerve damage in my feet (see an earlier post for the details)...to say that I'm way beyond elated is a huge understatement. I had truly forgotten what it meant to not find myself standing...or sitting as the case had been, at the edge of what the human body can endure EVERYDAY!

The joke gets funnier; I was so excited that I could dance again that I tweaked my knee first thing. But being the glutton for punishment that I am, it actually felt good. Its a familiar kind of pain, the sort that dancers get used to, it makes me feel alive. Don't worry, as I type this my knee is almost back to happy.

And the utter irony of this all being created in my brain was the real kicker. If I had ever doubted that we create our own reality I am now an evangelical believer! Praise the Lord and pass the gratitude.

I hear we can change the past just by seeing it differently, so here goes me finding a reason for the last 365 days of pain, lessons learned:

-Mental-physical-spiritual health are not something to take for granted. Without them it is VERY difficult to follow your bliss.

-Don't put it past your brain to be able to create more pain for you than you can even imagine.

-Let life, love and light move through you in order to become the puja of what is...the ever-reverberating aum that dances our all encompassing uni-verse.

midnight dream

2009-11-25T12:55:00.009-07:00

Forgive this bit of indulgence, I found this story I started writing several years ago. At the time I was hoping to write it as a collaborative piece but was too shy or perhaps I was being sensible to not put it forward for all to partake in but as with so many things, time has made this feel like a very distant inspiration and I would be more than thrilled to have anyone write further chapters, just send them my way and I'll post them.

Midnight Dream

Our story begins long ago in a place that lives only in distant memory now. Our principle character will be a temple dancer, it matters not which temple, we use her only to hint at the wanderings of the human heart and the search for ultimate truth. She'll be the canvas onto which we'll paint our story. The curve of her back will be the landscape that weaves us together, the arch of her foot will be the palate onto which we poor the colors that we'll speak with, nothing more, nothing less.

The events leading up to this moment are like many others and can be implied by their outcome. We'll part the curtains onto an empty stage, a girl, age 16, slowly steps in from the right, a group of town’s folk can be heard talking off stage.

As was the custom in the land, the life path of a female was chosen by committee, the rationale being that too many mistakes had been made in the past. After a heated discussion between the powers that be, it was declared that the girl would be handed over to the village temple for training in dance, music, poetry, cooking and art. She would be called upon to enrich the lives of those that lived in the town. The elders later amended their declaration with a special request that she also learn the language of the ancients, a long forgotten tongue used for prayer, incantation and obscure logic, the reason of the day being that an individual must study the past if they are to embrace the future.

The temple authorities had been told by a traveling camel trader (a demi-god in disguise) that a slightly deviant muse had taken a liking to the girl. This comfortably explained her passion for talking directly to the Gods, a practice shunned in current times. The hint of a shared parley between a mortal and the heavens made the town's people nervous. This sparked an irreverent mood, when it came to issues of social norms, which gripped the girl from a young age, complicating matters further. Being adept at domestic chores seemed to welcome the obvious choices but there were other elements to consider with this one.

A new name was chosen for the girl, releasing any hold that the past had on her. ‘Dasi’, meaning servant and ‘la’, the affectionate feminine suffix was added almost as an afterthought. This was her new and only title and with it she left her old life behind.

Her mother had little to say on the matter and seldom showed emotion of any sort, her father, well...it's difficult to know who her father was. Her mother had been vague on the details and when pressed further, Dasila discovered that it was a subject best left untouched. As a child, many men drifted through Dasila's life but none welcomed the title of father, a burden that Dasila decided was hers alone to carry. Finding no lack of masculine guidance, she was painfully aware that each moment can only lead to the present and not having a father didn't seem to change that.

Dasila spent the next 20 years training in the skills that she would need at her command for a life of ceremonial offering. During this time she also learned the importance of being selfless, a lesson that came quickly. A few months after her acceptance into the temple she became pregnant due to an uncharacteristically frivolous encounter with a temple patron. Her bonds were now firmly tied, she could no longer act upon a whim, from this point forward someone else would be depending on her to calculate each step. In later years she would look back and see clearly that the universe had deftly orchestrated this turn of events. The pieces were now arranged, the game could now begin. She began taking notes and assessing options. Another lesson now learned; pay attention to EVERYTHING.

Motherhood afforded Dasila time to gather her thoughts and cement her bonds with eternity. The love that Dasila had for her daughter was strong. She and Lila Anjali (meaning Dance of Offering, the only name Dasila felt she really understood) had a bond that was unshakable. Many important lessons came from the exchange that they shared and Lila Anjali soon grew to serve and bring beauty to the world in her own unexpected ways... a story for another night.

The veil of that 'Foreordained Night' with the temple patron did not cover Dasila's eyes for long and she soon realized that the path she trod upon was paved with hard lessons.

The temple gurus set many tasks before Dasila; she was their empty vessel waiting to be filled. They transfused her with insights that she tucked away for later use. These became secret gems that Dasila brought out for viewing only to those that possessed the right words to unlock her. Many tried to peak through the walls where the treasure was kept but only those that persevered beyond all reason caught her attention, occasionally they succeeded.

Determined to map a path to the worlds her teachers spoke of, days and nights floated past, twists and turns of fate came and went. On one violently windy summer night Dasila's muse, Azeem, as he made his name known to her in a past encounter, came to her while she slept. Wrapped in a cloak of darkness his ebony form slid into her bed. He lingered only a moment and then whispered into the night a demand for her to 'deepen her dance'. She awoke as his words tangled themselves in her dreams, only to catch a glimpse of him slipping out the door.

Dasila was aware that 'the dance' Azeem was referring to was an arcane set of embodied poems that she had occasion to learn from an ailing temple priestesses whom she regularly visited in a neighboring village. She was chosen for the task due to certain signs in the sky. The court astrologers had mumbled some unintelligible sounds and then shouted heavenward, "Each moment not offered to the divine is a lie!” The command was then set forth that any person showing certain characteristics was obligated to the world to learn the poems. Dasila possessed the signs. The urgency to learn the dances before they were 'lost to the sands of time' was now mentioned often by the town elders as tears welled in their eyes. Her training sessions lasted hours, always ending with a sense that if the body is to become the garden for the soul then nothing can be withheld.

In her other duties the daily instruction from the temple gurus was always the same, she was being pressed to reach further into the teachings. She needed to become familiar with a place that the people had entirely forgotten and only then would truth dance with her. The assignments left Dasila knowing that something was preventing her from seeing past the apathy and mindless banter that had swallowed the town. She continued to dance and audiences continued to raise their glasses in praise but something was always missing.

The temple gurus now sensed Dasila's dilemma better than she herself did. The journey she had embarked upon would not succeed without adding the element of unalloyed delight. Though she had epiphanies of joy, the oppressive obligations and austerities set forth by the temple had taken a toll on her. The visits from her patron had become few and far between creating an emptiness that became impossible to fill. Shortly after the 'Foreordained Night', he had lost all motive to remain in the world, it was as if his life had finished before his body was done with it. He donned the clothes of a wandering ascetic and resisted all desire that might hinder his observances. Dasila reached into every corner of her being to bring him back, knowing what was at stake if she could not but nothing swayed his resolve. She finally had to give up trying and saw this as yet another facet of the ‘great game’. He drifted further from town, his meditations becoming longer and their encounters becoming fewer.

Others saw this as an opportunity to draw closer to the one who had hinted at a place beyond their daily existence. They secretly left gifts for her, all symbolic of profound truths but there was no mystery in their motives, none stirred her curiosity. She understood that her gift for them was only to color their minds with possibilities. It was not beneficial for them to obtain her affection, their unmet longings were a powerful force that made things happen. It was the hunt that motivated them and a good hunt it was but they had nothing to offer a fellow traveler on a longer journey. If Dasila were to become the keeper of the dances she would need access to a map that none of them carried.

On a staggeringly uneventful afternoon, like so many others that came before, Dasila sat on a sun-baked street waiting for her donkey to wake up. Her muse, noticing that her time was being needlessly wasted, sat down beside her. In thick velvety words he coaxed her curiosity, describing to her a brilliant fire that burns with shear satisfaction, a blaze that laughs at unmitigated ecstasy and demands more, a radiant illumination that permeates all reason and summons life onward. If she were to find the places that the dances hinted of, she would need to kindle such a fire, there were no options here. He demanded decisive action, vociferated a terrifying laugh and disappeared into the shadows.

Hours later Dasila had become gripped with hopelessness, she had made no progress in following Azeem’s guidance, and no plan of action had presented itself. Staring at the ground, wrestling with her oppressive desperation she felt someone approaching. She raised her head to see a blurred mirage congeal into a tattered camel trader that was walking quickly towards her. Gazing out from under his disheveled hair were eyes, as blue as the deepest ocean…. shockingly blue. They submerged her. Completely engulfed in a vast glow of truth she was filled with pure joy and lost from all time and space. A new understanding devoured her that if she didn’t find this place again she would die. He had parted the curtains on the mystery and showed her what ‘It’ was and now she had to find ‘It’ and share ‘It’ with others.

The camel trader whispered, “Can you see what I see?” then smiled a deviant grin and left her deliriously enraptured on the street. With nobody seeming to take notice of her state, she managed to find her donkey who carried her back to the room the temple patron had provided her. The following year was a strange blur of systematic pleasantries and all-consuming desire. The villagers never suspected that she was watching the ebb and flow of their lives, their breathing, every minute bodily movement and the placement of each word. She was assessing every moment for the spark that would conjure flames.

Then one day an interesting thing occured...(care to add to the next chapter of this story?)

heavy heart

2009-09-05T20:53:00.009-07:00

Dear Friends, with a heavy heart I send you this note, to inform you that our dear Donna passed away from cancer this morning, Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 @ 10:10am in her home in Boulder, Colorado.

Her 2 lovely sons Jason and Simon were with her as well as a nurse. Many of her friends had a chance share their final goodbyes with her before she passed, as well as several family members who drove many hours to visit with her. We probably all know Donna as a grace-filled dancing-fighter and that's exactly what she embodied right up to her last breath. As was her request; we will be performing the Tibetan Chöd practice with Donna for the next few days, after that time she will be cremated and some of her ashes will be scattered into Boulder Creek and a small gathering of family, friends, dances, songs and prayers will be shared. The time and date has not yet been finalized but details will be sent soon.

We end this email with a quote from
The Velveteen Rabbit
one of Donna's favorite books

The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

sublime macabre

2009-08-27T16:48:00.009-07:00

Whoa Nelly...I am in a completely altered state
after a dance student suggested that I take a
cyber stroll through Kris Kuksi's art

And then later that night we went to a didgeridoo concert
at the local oxygen bar...to top it off,
as if it weren't already an ethereal day.

Our time on this earth is sacred and we should celebrate every moment.- Paulo Coelho

poised to shoot

2009-07-28T20:10:00.012-07:00

An innocent enough grin...

Ha Ha! I've got you now Little Bunny Foo Foo!

I takes aim for the jugular!

Just kidding, everyone lived happily ever after...

The bow is the sacred OM, and the arrow is our soul.
Brahman is the mark of the arrow, the aim of the soul.
Even as an arrow becomes one with its mark,
let the watchful soul be one in him.

— Mundaka Upanishad

chöd

2009-07-26T01:08:00.024-07:00

Namo.
I pay homage to the guru, to the dakini.
On the moon disk of her heart
Is the letter AH...AH...

(Click on the painting to see Machig Labdrön's fearless grace!)

"There are many who wish to gain enlightenment
in a man's form, and there are but a few who wish
to work for the welfare of sentient beings in a female
form. Therefore may I, in a female body, work for
the welfare of beings right until Samsara is emptied.

To annihilate the four demons
Is the teaching of the great vehicle.
To neither reject nor pursue Samsara or Nirvana
Is the meaning of the Prajnaparamita.
Making use of unfavorable conditions
Was taught by the vernerable Machig.
To consider adversiy as a friend
Is the instruction of Chöd."

- Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chöd

Once again, the drum beats my heart and the bell
calls me to splash in the rivers of infinity.

One of my dear dance students has been battling a nasty cancer demon for several years. As I try my best to help her through the stormy waves of samsara, I feel myself gripped in a dead-lock stare with my own mortality.

By shear grace, the universe tossed us a rope, Chöd, the Tantric
Buddhist practice of offering everything you've got, which, when
one is passing through life's more dire of situations, one can find
that the only thing left to offer is the body... or as a recently seen
bumper sticker proclaimed, "Don't wait till you die to follow the light".

Chöd is a supplication to the great dakini, Machig Labdrön.
It is charnal ground practice so steeped in beauty and magic
that it drops me to my knees. We practice many hours each
week and continue to to be delighted by the wisdom of this
sacred puja.

I must mention how much gratitude I have for Alta Brown for sharing
her lifetime of practice with us and I bow with great respect to her
Guru, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche for so generously keeping
these teaching alive for all to follow in his footsteps.

For more information/inspiration, visit Alta's lovely website: Everyday Chöd

around the world

2009-07-22T19:52:00.002-07:00

Just for kicks, here is a quick reference point of what it
means to have RSD:

Who would'a thunk that such nastiness was/is possible
for a human body to endure? And yet, life goes on,
and something like this : Around the World
makes me so happy! Dang! Them Boyz can DANCE!

"I see first lots of things which dance...
then everything becomes gradually connected.
- Jim Morrison

aum cakes

2009-07-19T07:55:00.003-07:00

We recently baked an aum cheesecake with a batch of
freshly plucked black raspberries from a plant me mum
started a couple years ago.

Cheesecake is unbelievably easy to make.
We used crushed boudoir biscuits (aka: ladies fingers)
for the crust but any mild cookie would do or even
ground pecans and melted butter.

Crust:

2 1/4 cup cookies crumbs or crushed pecans
1/2 cup butter, melted

Filling:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Bake @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25:ish minutes

You CAN have your AUM and eat it too!

kotchka

2009-03-21T08:44:00.016-07:00

Happily announcing a new addition to our home:

7 year old Agent Love Monster

who seems to have misplaced her tail somewhere.
We choose not to ask questions.

We've been told she goes by many aliases depending on which disguise she is employing. A few years ago she popped up on the radar with such names as Critter and Trudy but her current mission seems to require something a bit more mysterious, Kotchka (cat in Czech) or Kocha as Lila has been told.

She has been observed stalking the void with predator-like agility and seems to receive messages from everything that's not there.

All indications lead us to believe that she knows much more than she wishes to divulge.

gearing up

2009-01-04T14:41:00.010-07:00

As a study in preparedness or perhaps just outright silliness,
I've been conducting a mind experiment,

trying to figure out what gear one would need in order to survive as a wandering temple artist in a slightly hostile world. I keep thinking soap might be necessary, I like soap but it also seems kinda decadent, what about salt?
...hmmm... so many possibilities.
See anything I've forgotten?
Have you any suggestions?

water footprint

2009-01-04T12:13:00.006-07:00

water water everywhere...

How much do you use?
http://www.waterfootprint.org
Looks like I use about 595 cubic meters per year.
I think being a vegetarian probably makes a big difference.

the kali grind

2008-12-15T13:43:00.010-07:00

On the way to God the difficulties
feel like being ground by a millstone,
like night coming at noon, like
lightening through the clouds.

But don't worry!
What must come, comes.
Face everything with love,
as your mind dissolves in God.

~Lalla (1320-1392)

Stretch...Yawn...Eeep! Where am I?
After a long silence, I feel as though I'm crawling out from under a rock in order to dally and delight in verbiage and wordage again. During a crazed sabbatical into the land of Sit-Down-and-Shut-Up, I discovered that I can get really-really quiet when things get scary. I am finally feeling less impending dome and more truth, beauty and consciousness, so now that I'm back, I wanna touch and name everything.

Let's begin with; these are indeed interesting times we live in. Political and fiduciary mayhem aside, I couldn't have dreamed up a stranger plot. The one year anniversary of my father's suicide came and went. I listened to his favorite song (Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones) and played a game of chess with myself. I do miss him but I also understand that he had his reasons. I won't go into all the details but I will say that the last 5 years have been one heck of a wild ride. I feel as though I've been tenderized again and again under Kali-ma's millstone. She leaves me wondering if there is anything left of me and then she is back and we do it all again.

The most recent smoothing took place at the emergency room about 3 months ago. Who knew that walking through a room in the dark and stubbing one's toe on a book could land you in a medical mess, spiraling over a scary chasm of A.M.A. demons? After the first blood test, we discovered that my liver was very mad at me, which created a meltdown in other areas. The day after the injury, the pain in my foot mirrored itself on the other side of my body and shot up both legs. Odd as it sounds, these are the symptoms of a little known ailment called reflexive sympathetic dystrophy or R.S.D., wiki it if you wanna know more. Leave it to me to come up with a totally obscure illness. Most people haven't ever heard of it but those who have respond with, "Oh you poor dear! That's dreadful. I had a friend with that and she almost asked for an amputation. All you can do is pray and hope the painkillers work." Actually acupuncture multiple times a week and massive quantities of Chinese herbs have reduced the pain to an almost workable level...though I'm still scared about my next blood test. I send my liver happy-love vibes.

Okay Okay, life is still good. My daughter-ling is trez fabu (poor girly has finals this week). I still teach dance, though I haven't been able to dance myself for almost 3 months. Yoga is my saving grace. Knitting is fun, as is cooking. The last few batches of granola have incited riots of glee from all who tried it, can't make the stuff fast enough. Perhaps I should take my cues from the obvious and resign myself to the fact that I am indeed a Boulder granola girl. And Hey! I won the annual chai making contest, kudos to me. The secret to my success? Saffron and Mexican vanilla beans which were blessed by nuns and said to be a gift from God. Can't beat that. Leave it to the dasi to cheat by imploring God to make it yummy.

Amidst all the weirdness of the last few years, I am ever so grateful for all of my friends who continue to pull me, kicking and screaming at times, into the splendors of love and light and bliss...even when I wanna pretend there is no such thing...tee hee. Thanx for not giving up on me.

celebrating spring

2008-03-24T08:17:00.005-07:00

The best way to know God is to love many things.
-Vincent Van Gogh

on with the dance

2008-03-23T16:47:00.008-07:00

sutapta cämékara-candra-nélapadma-
pravälämbuda-känti-vastraiù
sa nåtya-raìgeñöa-vara-pradäya
kaivalya-näthäya våña-dhvajäya

"I offer my obeisances unto you, who are dressed in garments
resembling molten gold, the moon, blue lotuses, coral, and
dark rainclouds; unto you, who bestow the most desirable
boons on your devotees by means of your delightful dancing;
unto you, who are the master of the impersonalists and unto
you, whose flag bears the image of the bull."

Click link for fotos from
The 2008 Koothambalam Siva Ratri Puja:

ConradOlivier.com

bhum bhum hara hara

2008-03-06T08:15:00.003-07:00













Come One Come All!!!

You are cordilly invited to celebrate Siva Ratri ("Auspicious Night")
with The Koothambalam School of Devadasi Sadir:
http://www.blueavatar.com/bharatanatyam/bharatanatyam.htm

This festival marks the first new moon of early spring
as the sacred astrological alignment which heralds the
beginning of the growing cycle for the coming year.
During this time, seeds drink in the five elements as they
begin to rumble underground. Life force begins to flow
upward from the earth, bursting outwards as flowers.
This dark moment, just before life begins anew, is the
silent in-between time, the gap which separates the
death of winter from the life of spring, when the
limitless potential of the divine, ever-dwelling in
the deep interiors of the heart, awakens to itself.

We celebrate Siva's almighty dance with each breath.
Mind, body and heart undulate with Siva's sublime grace
as he delights in making the still and the un-still
dissolve into ecstasy. The ever reverberating "Ha!"
resounds from His exquisite blue throat and the universe
trembles with the anticipation of  His next step!                                 
                                    



















May Siva Ratri bring hope and blessings to
ALL!

The evening will begin with a short arati
(fire ceremony) and kirtan (singing) followed
by a dance offering made to Siva by the
Koothambalam students.
Tea and snacks will be served afterwards.

*Please bring a pillow to sit on.

Friday, March 7th, 2008
Doors open @ 6:20 pm,
the arati will begin @ 6:30 pm.

This event is free and open to the public.

Shambhala Center Community Room
main floor
1345 Spruce St., Boulder,  CO 80302
http://www.boulder.shambhala.org/

your space not mine

2008-02-23T14:11:00.006-07:00

Oh...has it really come to this?
Dasila's My Space

scribble-ganza

2008-02-21T08:35:00.003-07:00

Here is a preview to one of my upcoming art projects...
and you thought I couldn't draw--ha!

lila and the black sharpie

2008-02-18T10:37:00.005-07:00

Here are a few of Lila's recent artistic werx.

viva la revolution

2008-02-17T21:11:00.013-07:00

The long-lost photos of Bon Bon's Adventures in Paris have finally been found!

She had been hiding-out with a band of freedom-fighting gypsies for the last 4 years but as of last Tuesday, we received word that she will soon deliver plans for our next mission.

We anxiously await further instruction - Viva la Revolution!

au revoir...happy travels

lobster with love

2008-02-17T20:28:00.004-07:00

Quite likely one of the oddest valentines I've ever seen...

extract of fact

2008-02-17T17:57:00.025-07:00

Here's a great way to waste a whole lotta time:

Type your answer to each question below, into the Google image search, see what you find.

The original rules were to post 1 image per question
but I'm guessing I'll rabble-rouse and post as many as I like.

*click on an image to view it larger.

1) Age at next birthday:

2) A place you'd like to travel:

3) Your favorite place:

4) Your favorite objects:

5) Your favorite foods:

6) Your favorite animal:

7) Your favorite color:

8) Town where you were born:

9) Town where you live:

10) Name of a past pet:

11) Bad habit of yours:

12) College major:

13) Your first name:

Here is a funny one; when I type my name into Google, I find photos which a friend took of me, taking photos, in India 3 years ago, she currently has them posted on her website:
http://talkingdancer.com/blog/?27
To make it extra co-ink-ie-dinkie, I'm wearing the same outfit TODAY-we're thru the looking glass on this one folks!

14) Your grandmother's first name:
(2 grandmothers = 2 names)

Have Fun!!!

tree hugger

2008-02-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

Sifting through some old photos.
Here is one of my old friend Sarah the tree hugger.

Me in Pondicherry, India

Odessa in a dressa

My favorite magnolia tree

Mi Mum work'n the farm

Ed's truck- taken with Holga

Mother Daughter

fire dance

2008-02-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was invited to photograph a fire dance ceremony.

It was spectacular!

..w o w...

Awash in the Glow

This one seems to have some kanji written in the flames.

touching light

2008-02-11T07:58:00.001-07:00

Radiance

The Sun finds a way to shine a beam of light, every afternoon, through the shrine room window. Here, Lila is gathering the exploding star's particles which traveled 93,000,000 miles to reach her hands.

Catching De-light

Illuminatium

The gayatri mantra seems appropriate here:

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tat savitur vareṇyaṃ
bhargo devasya dhīmahi
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt

om - all- encompassing sacred sound
bhū - earth
bhuvas - atmosphere
svar - light, heaven, space
tat - that
savitur - stimulator, rouser, name of a sun-deity, deva, God
varenyam - fit to be worshipped, desirable, excellent
bhargo - glory effulgence, radiance, lustre, splendour, glory
devasya - of God
dhīmahi - may we attain, set, bring forth
dhiya na - our prayers, thought, meditation, devotion
ya prachodayāt - who may stimulate or set in motion

look better feel better

2008-02-10T10:27:00.000-07:00

Words of wisdom immortalized outside a local barber shop.

This has been a truly crazy year, I may manage to verbalize some of the details at some later date but for now I'd rather test the waters by simply posting a few photos.

We have been doing some kitty sitting for a friend this winter. These Maine Coon kitties are so crazy smart, they pick up their food with their paws but they only eat if you also are eating. The moment I walk away the kitties stop eating and follow me through the house. Most days are filled with a furry mayhem of feline friskiness.

Helping with homework

Unbearable cuteness of being

Still life with tractor

Lila communing with vipers

Viper smooches

tying the knot

2007-08-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Yes-tiz true, I dropped off the radar for a while.

I'm back now and finding inspiration in every nook and cranny of existence again....yah!

That said, may I complain for a moment?... tee hee! I don't like the way that word 'existence' is spelled, I wish it were 'exist-stance', the stance in which we exist, makes more sense, non?...but who am I to make a gripe about Miriam and Webster's authority over me?! ...tawn sarnit!

I've been having some tumultuous life experiences recently, perhaps similar to many other people on this planet, even so, I'm so very glad that my daughter was not born in Darfur.

I'd rather not try to find words for everything that has occurred in my life recently but I'm happy to look for gratitude in the midst of it all and for those of you who know me, let me state, I'm doing well, drifting on the waves of this exist-stance.

I feel driven to create beauty in the world, in every way possible and I am thrilled when people call upon me to do that. I've been teaching many dance classes, doing graphic design jobs, the occasional photo assignment and trying to love thru every moment.

Recently, I was hired to photograph a wedding, one of those- dawn-till-dusk adventures. The Bride and all her Maids were highly decorated--which made for some fabulous photo ops-

took a mere 500 fotos:

The Groom and Best Men seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Twas a lovely ceremony-aside from the ubber Catholic pastor/minister (I'm clueless here people-as to his title-I was raised Buddhist). He informed me that I was allowed to take only ONE photo in the church!

I asked him if I might be allowed to take one more, if the first was out of focus. He seemed quite annoyed with me at that point. He clearly had issues regarding wedding photographers...thus I had to make a plan.

I broke rules, using my secondary camera, not so high definition but very silent, I managed 30 photos,--hope I don't wind-up in the 'Blasphemer's Hell' for that one.

Happily ever after...

open letter 2 laura bush

2007-05-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

For reasons spelled out below, the poet Sharon Olds declined to attend the National Book Festival in Washington. Olds, winner of a National Book Critics Circle Award and professor of creative writing at New York University, was invited along with a number of other writers by First Lady Laura Bush to read from their works. Here is her chilling response.

Laura Bush
First Lady
The White House

Dear Mrs. Bush,

I am writing to let you know why I am not able to accept your kind invitation to give a presentation at the National Book Festival on September 24, or to attend your dinner at the Library of Congress or the breakfast at the White House.

In one way, it's a very appealing invitation. The idea of speaking at a festival attended by 85,000 people is inspiring! The possibility of finding new readers is exciting for a poet in personal terms, and in terms of the desire that poetry serve its constituents--all of us who need the pleasure, and the inner and outer news, it delivers.

And the concept of a community of readers and writers has long been dear to my heart. As a professor of creative writing in the graduate school of a major university, I have had the chance to be a part of some magnificent outreach writing workshops in which our students have become teachers. Over the years, they have taught in a variety of settings: a women's prison, several New York City public high schools, an oncology ward for children. Our initial program, at a 900-bed state hospital for the severely physically challenged, has been running now for twenty years, creating along the way lasting friendships between young MFA candidates and their students--long-term residents at the hospital who, in their humor, courage and wisdom, become our teachers.

When you have witnessed someone nonspeaking and almost nonmoving spell out, with a toe, on a big plastic alphabet chart, letter by letter, his new poem, you have experienced, close up, the passion and essentialness of writing. When you have held up a small cardboard alphabet card for a writer who is completely nonspeaking and nonmoving (except for the eyes), and pointed first to the A, then the B, then C, then D, until you get to the first letter of the first word of the first line of the poem she has been composing in her head all week, and she lifts her eyes when that letter is touched to say yes, you feel with a fresh immediacy the human drive for creation, self-expression, accuracy, honesty and wit--and the importance of writing, which celebrates the value of each person's unique story and song.

So the prospect of a festival of books seemed wonderful to me. I thought of the opportunity to talk about how to start up an outreach program. I thought of the chance to sell some books, sign some books and meet some of the citizens of Washington, DC. I thought that I could try to find a way, even as your guest, with respect, to speak about my deep feeling that we should not have invaded Iraq, and to declare my belief that the wish to invade another culture and another country--with the resultant loss of life and limb for our brave soldiers, and for the noncombatants in their home terrain--did not come out of our democracy but was instead a decision made "at the top" and forced on the people by distorted language, and by untruths. I hoped to express the fear that we have begun to live in the shadows of tyranny and religious chauvinism--the opposites of the liberty, tolerance and diversity our nation aspires to.

I tried to see my way clear to attend the festival in order to bear witness--as an American who loves her country and its principles and its writing--against this undeclared and devastating war.

But I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.

What kept coming to the fore of my mind was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its continuation, even to the extent of permitting "extraordinary rendition": flying people to other countries where they will be tortured for us.

So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.

Sincerely, SHARON OLDS

friendly friends

2007-03-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

Oh! I have such loverly friends!

Zazou in the door-way

Zazou pondering life...

Oh Lionel...

I do so torture you with this camera...

But, it's just way so much fun!
I simply must!!!

out with the old

2007-03-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

Tidy-ing up some old files and came across a few forgotten images:

Cosmos after the rain.

Dog Beach, San Diego.

Allegra in her Hello Kitty chapeau.
I love how the pompom is almost as big as her head.

Ling in "The Stacks" @ Norlan Library.

Ling and her 'Light from Above".

"The First Holga Outing--2005".
Green Mnt. Cemetery, Boulder, Co.

Capturing the Water Nymph
Holga 120N

Contado
Taos, NM. 2006.

poetry slam

2007-03-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I began frequenting a local poetry reading. I am now quite a fan as it began to feel like going to church, in a good way!

People communing and spilling out their hearts out for the things they care about, mostly in very electric and beautiful ways, not always...but mostly.

Seems that most of my friends also intuite poems while sitting there, here is one that came to Sam last week:

And then Aviv asked him if he knew any "big words" and I mentioned that it didn't seem to involve any lesbian sex, which many of the poems seem to focus on, so he wrote the entire poem again...with bigger words...and sex. It was pretty hilarious. [click on the image if the text is too small to read]

ghoul girl

2007-03-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Lila's most recent art project was to sew a doll.
This little... uuum...cutie is named 'Ghoul Girl'.
When it rained here for the first time in like...oh...I dunno, the first time 365 days, Lila took Ghoul Girl outside to experience "rain...water falls from the sky"...it was way cute.

sonjasi visits

2007-03-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Sonjasi shipped herself off to D.C. a few months ago but came back to Colo. for a brief moment this weekend.

OOOOH! We miss her dearly!

Gabriel and I made "Welcome Back!" kolam and then handed her a coconut with a pile of burning camphor on it and requested her to smash it on the kolam [a puja done in India before any journey]....tiz an invocation of sacred blessing for "What comes next".

S P L A T!!!!

Picking up the pieces!

And here she is feeding Sir Ribbit
[Lila's pet frog]
Wow! What a crazy pink chapeau!

Skipping down the mountain after our hike up was way fun woman!
Breathing deep and KNOWING its all Grace!

pakistani crane

2007-02-26T22:24:00.000-07:00

When Lila is given homework in which the medium is not specified she seems to have a leaning towards origami, this is her recent report on Pakistan:

The teachers seem amused!

siva continued

2007-02-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

A few more moments from Siva Ratri 2007..

aum shanti !

wind and weeds

2007-02-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

Noticing how the weeds were dancing about in the wind today.
Had to take a photo...

These are some rather cool weeds, non?
Actually I hear they are 'sweet peas'...thus the spiral-ation.

siva ratri 2007

2007-02-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

Naagendra haaraaya thriloochanaaya bhasmaangadhaaraaya maheshwaraaya

Nityaaya shudhdhaaya digambaraaya tasmai nakaaraaya namahshivaaya

Salutations to Siva
Who wears a serpent as garland
Who is three-eyed
Whose bare body is covered with ashes
Who is forever pure and the very embodiment of sacrifice

faj bing

2007-02-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Lila and I took Nadine adventuring yesterday. First stop was to visit with Zazou and her kitty, "Faj Bing". He's such a COOL KAT!
Born with no ears and yet such a hipster!

Here is Nadine trying to entice the oh so bored feline.

infinite certainty

2007-02-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

The Only One

From man's perspective
In this intricate game of love,
It is so easy to become confused
And think that you are the do-er.

But from God's Infinite Certainty,
He always knows

That he is the only One
Who should ever be put on trial.

-Hafiz

dear world

2007-01-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

One regret, dear world,

That I am determined not to have
When I am lying on my deathbed

Is that
I did not kiss you enough.

-Hafiz

u. s. of a.

2007-01-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Gabriel's lovely cousin from Germany is visiting for a month. I inquired as to the name of the town she hails from, she says, "Moers, near to Düsseldorf". I looked up the location on Google World but all the sites were in Doi-ch-ah...oh..or maybe that was Deutsche? What's with this 4 Consonants in a row thing? And what of Nietzsche? 5 Consonants? No wonder he went bonkers.

"Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger"...indeed!

So the grand excursion of 2 days ago consisted of the cousin marveling at how big everything in 'America' is (she needs to visit Texas!) and Gabriel suggests that she pay a visit to Costco, that land of really big food!

...I tag along to take photos! In Germany, one does not buy 10 pounds of grape fruit... or pampelmusen as they are called.

Wow...its like a warehouse of food!

Shall we buy some milk? Seems the smallest amount is 2 Gallons!!!
Me, behind the camera, "OH! I am so embarrassed to be an American."

"Wow! This is heavy...do you think you can carry it Gabriel?"

OH!
We laughed so much!

snow sculpture

2007-01-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

I recently found a few photos from our excursion to the International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, Co.

It was way amazing to see what people can do with snow. Its happening this year between January 28th – February 4th, 2007. See you there...

These photos were taken with an ain-chi-ent Nikon FG that my grandfather, Lyle Daggett, gifted me.

happy b-day lurliebell

2007-01-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Woman!!!

Fab-YOU-lous Aquari-YUM!!!

shades of gray

2007-01-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Finally got the last batch of medium format photos back. As the world goes digital, its getting more and more difficult to find the 120mm. film for these little toy cameras.

Because there is not a computer [or even a battery for that matter] to contend with in the Holga [the shutter is spring operated], one can manipulate the exposure quite a lot. I hold the shutter open for what feels like "The Right Amount of Time" and then let it close. I take multiple exposures in one frame or sometimes, as in the photo above, I advance the film only half way. I'm always amazed that it works.

The school bus was from a Mud Lake photo shoot and the wagon was by the side of the road in Ward, Co. Click on the image, it looks nicer, larger...

Is this a Pakard? I can't remember...it was located in Ward as well.

Took this one during the snowstorm last week. I didn't adjust the color at all on this photo. The world really was a bleak landscape of gray.

happy birthday sidney

2007-01-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

Today is Sidney's Birthday!
Many Happy Returns of the Day Sir!

Sidney is my commrad of oh sooooo many years!

He likes dogs, vernacular, NY Times crosswords, Doctor Who, bicycles, dark chocolate, buckwheat waffles, quarter horses, black and white photography, good wine and cheese, ballet, bombastic music...and infinite other amusements!

Here is a poem he recently composed amidst the snowstorms of 2oo7:

NEW SNOW; QUARTER HORSES; January 5, 2007

Cold loose and dry, the horses run to food;

Kicking up the white powder before, like hooved snowplows,

Scutate snow shaped in the air before each hoof.

Icicles formed in the night at the hair ends of fur and manes.

Like giant deer they look at me, and look, and eat and eat;

Loving alfalfa - For the thousandth time I wonder:

How can they eat that stuff?

We are bonded by the animal cold, the giant domestic deer of burden,

And I, the oddly trained giver of dry green summer alfalfa.












And another one from the previous snowstorm:

WRAITHS FROM DENSE FOG: QUARTER HORSES EARLY IN THE MORNING OF
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2006 
Hayflakes put in the empty pasture, my feet padding soundlessly in the
snow;

After a time the tinkle of an icicle perhaps

Or the smell of alfalfa - the dog suddenly alert 

And pointed at what I cannot see -

Has drawn the the big round roan shapes

Looming into substance from the deep whiteout.

Barely visible, they become whole,  

Breathing, heads bobbing from side to side with that quarter horse
ambling walk we all love,

The dog and I fixated by their gentle eclosion from the refuge of night
and fog.

cabin fever

2007-01-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

OMGawd! Colorado temperatures have been hovering @ 1 degree for days. Bleak and cold and snow! To say I am looking forward to Spring would be an understatement. Leaving the house these last few weeks, takes a full-on commitment.

I've baked bread, posole, asperge quiche, green tea shortbread, framboise tart, macaroons and on and on...I'm gonna have to take up knitting again just to stave off the boredom... TV certainly holds no appeal. Photography, dance, daughter, yoga and love are all delightful diversions.... I Thank God 4 them all.

I wonder if all the Naga Baba's @ the Kumba Mela know what they are missing here as they prance about on the shores of the Great Ganga Ma in their Birthday suits? Giving it all to Siva!

Hey, my mother's birthday was on the 6 of Jan. She was born on Epiphany, the 12th day of X-mas, the day when the Magi followed the star and all that. Realizing I didn't know squat about the 3 Wise Men, I looked them up. They certainly had nifty names; Caspar, Melchoir, Balthasar.

i ching

2007-01-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

In the tradition of Vidyadara Chögyam Trungpa, I invoke The New Year with an I-ching toss. At first glace I was dismayed to see that there were no moving lines but upon reading the description of the hexagram...it all seems quite purrrfect.

Wind over Water-
59. DISSOLVING SEPARATION
Spiritual unity helps dissolve the alienation that keeps people from uniting. Ceremony and ritual bonds people to each other, awakening a desire for fellowship. Community projects unite people in a similar way. By becoming involved in these projects, you will avoid forming selfish motives and soften the rigidity that separates you from others.

godt nyttår

2007-01-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Farewll Old Year!

Chinese (Cantonese)
Sun nien fai lok

Chinese (Mandarin)
Xin nian yu kuai

Danish
Godt Nytår

Dutch
Gelukkig nieuwjaar

Farsi
Aide shoma mobarak

French
Bonne année

Gaelic
Aith-bhliain Fe Nhaise Dhuit

Happy New Year!

German
Gutes Neues Jahr

Hawaiian
Hauoli Makahiki Hou

Hebrew
Shanah tovah

Hmong
Nyob zoo xyoo tshiab

Indonesian
elamat Tahun Baru

Italian
Buon Capo d'Anno

Japanese
Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu

Norwegian
Godt Nyttår

Pilipino (Tagalog)
Maligayang Bagong Taon

Portuguese
Feliz ano novo

Russian
S Novym Godom

Spanish
Feliz Año Nuevo

Sudanese
Wilujeng Tahun Baru

Swedish
Gott Nytt År

Turkish
Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

Welsh
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

BRING IT ON!!!

so much snow

2006-12-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

We got 2 1/2 ft. of snow 4 daze ago.
Boulder/Denfar and most of Colorado had a white X-mas indeed!

Airport shut down, mail delivered @ 6am on Sunday?!
Grocery store selves empty, yada yada.

Got lots of phone calls from people living in warmer climes inquiring if we were still alive...it was cute to feel thier trepidation about our weather.

Walking becomes an amusing chore when the snow reaches past one's thigh but it's allllllll good! Got studded snow tires 2day so I'm good 2 go...maybe.

"They" predict more snow 4 tomorrow....whooo hoooo! Bring it on....

bob the elf

2006-12-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Umm...hi...
Days and weeks and months seem to become a blur during these Holy Daze. Too much time has passed since that last entry...eeep.

Anywho! Happy Yuletide Festive-ness-ness-ness, Feliz blah-bi-blah and all the rest. Let's just dive right in and introduce you to 'The Elf named Bob'. My guess is that Emily might be living in some of the same "amusing" realities as her father? She made this glorious little elf [the stitching is spectacular]....{yes, he's missing an arm! shhh!...we're trying to not draw attention to that} . This was her gift for her father, he's sitting here right next to me as I type this...He told me that Santa was peeved and wanted to teach him a lesson...yikes! He claims he learned his lesson but I'm not so sure...

Poor Bob! ... We're doing our best to CHEER him way up...

Hey! Seems the word 'Yule' comes from 'Jól', of the Old Norse word 'hjól' meaning 'wheel'. Yuletide identifies the moment when the "Wheel of the Year" is at its low point and is ready to rise again...cool!

koi in the rain

2006-11-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

While in San Diego, I took a contemplative stroll thru the Japanese Tea Garden. The rain made for nice company.

I no longer think of reality
As reality.
So no reason then to think of dreams
As dreams.

-Saigyo, poet-monk, (1118-1190)

Gentle foothills, and
in the dew drops of the mountains,
soaked, I waited for you--
grew wet from standing there
in the dew drops of the mountains.

-Prince Otsu (663-86)

A thousand strands
of glistening deep black hair
in tangles
all intertangled
like my dreams of you.

-Yosano Akiko (1878 - 1942)

Looking at the willows,
one ends up forgetting them

-Chiyojo (1703-1775)

Yesterday felt like a thousand years ago,
at the same time
I feel your hands still on my shoulders.

-Yamamura Bocho (20^th c)

crazy glorious

2006-11-21T06:52:00.001-07:00

Whoa nelly, what a sunset we had last night!
People were pouring onto the streets and placing calls informing all thier friends to get outside fast and tilt thier gaze upwards.

It just went on and on ...

graffiti

2006-11-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Last month I gave a disposable camera and a "photo assignment" to a friend. It turned out to be such a success that more friends began asking me to do the same for them. Inspired by thier glee and a reecent conversation I had regarding graffiti from around the world, I decided to give myself a "photo assignment" as well; capture graffiti.

tijuana

2006-11-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

Just back from a quick trip to San Diego and Tijuana. I like to go to such places and get lost first thing and then spend the day trying to find churches and temples.

Seems an effective way to get off the tourist route and dive deep into the heart of a place.

Not sure how far I walked...too many miles to keep track of. I was pleased to discover that the chihuahua still reins supreme in Mexico. They seem to be everywhere, them and the border patrol. There were always at least 5 helicopters chopping up the sky and circling the wall that separates "us" from "them".

Had a rather marvelous breakfast of nopales [cactus] and muy caliente chilies.

Hey! I thought I had come up with this whole "Pink Death" thing! They can't do that!

A melange of seagull and verdent seaweed.

!!!ROAR!!! I will crush you!
[click on the image to see thier mighty rage]

Pigeons perched on a pipe, birdie toes slipping off the entire time.

glory bee

2006-11-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

This Just In!

Zazou DID NOT sustain a black eye!
Glory BE!!! {hey...i wanna be The Glory Bee next Halloween!}
She intones that me kicking her...
in the the eye....
with a pink ballet shoe...
was a cosmic accupuncture treatment.
Oh Dang!
She is so good to me!

dia de los muertos

2006-11-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

Oh My Garsh! I so have the coolest friends on the planet! Betwixt Halloween and Day of the Dead [click on the invite below to see it in all its splendor], we have had quite the week of celebratory revelry.

I had an utterly enchanting time dancing [making no noise of course, due to our nasty neighbors] with this gorgeous Angel of Alchemy. She was wearing a necklace made from the sacrum of a chicken....:::wow:::...

And the totally radiation soaked Haz-Mat guy showed up to
"Clean up the mess..."

Pink Death made an appearance and twittered about in a giggly frenzy. At one point she even kicked her dear friend, Zazou, in the eye [doing an arabesque in her balletique point shows]. She made a silly excuse about it being "an attempt to bring her a little closer to her mortality"...but we all know the truth.

pink death

2006-10-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

Halloween is almost upon us....yippee!
Be sure to come trick-or-treat @ mi casa!

Seems ' White Death' morphed into 'Pink Death' this year.

She floats to your door and knocks a faint little jingle. When you open your door, she greets you with a warm smile, a pink scythe, a twinkle in her eye and giggles galore.

She whispers into your ear, "Your time has come! Tee hee!!! Its gonna be fun!!! Tee hee...Hurry up, let's go!!! This is what you've been waiting for all your life!!! Its called death...its the best part!!! The Grand Finale. Come on! I'll show you the way..."

floating away

2006-10-28T08:33:00.000-07:00

*click on the picture to view 4 real*

Drenched in a flood of coruscant gratitude yesterday, I felt a need to let Siva know how much I appreciate him. Where does one send a message to the universe? ...how about, EVERYWHERE? Wrote it all out in a "thank you" note and set it a blaze... words floating away in whispers of smoke.

elegant equines

2006-10-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hired by the Boulder County Horse Association last week to photograph an event they were hosting.
Here are a few of the images:

Thru His Eyes

Number 38

At the Gate

Number 23

Gate Keeper

On the Fence

Telling Secrets

zazou day

2006-10-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday 2 you ma·de·moi·selle ZAZOU!!!

happy divali

2006-10-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

The night is black, kindle the lamp of love with my devotion.
-Rabindranath Tagore

Divali was last night and we totally celebrated. I cleaned the house the entire day, baked, made a happy kolam and gave gifts. Lila set up the shrine and lit the candles and then we chanted some Sanskrit verses to the Goddess Laksmi and to Jyoti (light).

The word "Divali" comes from the Sanskrit word "deepavali" -- "deepa" meaning light and"avali" meaning a row. This refers to the small ‘diva lamps’ that are lit at sunset, illuminating the darkness and heralding the onset of winter.

During the festival of Divali (the 14th day of the dark half of Aashwayuja) we create beauty and flood the house (the heart) with light as the invocation of Sri Lakshmi (Goddess of abundance, beauty and divine manifestation). We ask her to pour into our hearts, penetrate the darkness and conquer all fear and ignorance. This self-enlightenment is celebrated by cleaning the house, bathing, anointing the body with sandalwood oil, wearing new clothes, burning incense, making joyous sounds, lighting lamps, drawing kolam and offering prasad. This is also an auspicious day to start new ventures, as the goddess will bestow blessings of prosperity, success and abundance.

With our devotion we kindle the divine "Lakshmi-Blaze" within.

silver lining

2006-10-14T16:16:00.000-07:00

Nice clouds float overhead, how bout if we don't ever doubt the 'silver lining', k?

The man was gone last night thus I partook in a delightful evening of making a dinner that had nothing to do with anyone but myself. It ended up being vegan black berry waffles and salad. The silliest dish I could muster...aint life is grand.

I trust I don't need to post a photo of their purple glory but here's the recipe:
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 way ripe mashed up banana
1 1/4 cup soy or almond milk
1 tbsp sweetness [i used agave but do what you gotta do]
1 cup black berries

sift dry ingredients together
mash banana
add the sweetness
mix wet and dry
don't over stir it
pour quantity into hot oiled waffle iron
and yum...

it only made about 3 waffles but ...whoa!

rioting @ your door

2006-10-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

... I know the kind of lyrics your
Soul most likes. I know which sounds will become
Resplendent... and bring such pleasure
Your feet will jump and whirl.

When anything touches or enters your body
Never say it is not God, for He is
Just trying to get close.

I have no use for divine patience -- my lips are always
Burning and everywhere. I am running from every corner
Of this world and sky wanting to kiss you;

I am every particle of dust and wheat -- you and I
Are ground from His Own Body. I am rioting at your door;
I am spinning in midair like golden falling leaves
Trying to win your glance.

I am sweetly rolling against your walls and shores
All night, even though you are asleep. I am singing from
The mouths of animals and birds honoring our
beloved's promise and need: to let
you know the Truth.

My dear, when anything touches or enters your body
Never say it is not God, for He and I are
Just trying to get close to you.

God and I are rushing
From every corner of existence, needing to say,
"We are yours."

-Hafiz

bodhi tree

2006-10-07T12:50:00.000-07:00

Me mum recently gifted me an entire forest worth of bodhi trees which she had grown. My job was to distribute them to the dance students. Then the pleading cries for "more information" came pouring in, so here ya'll go with your info on the ficus religiosa:

At the western side of Bodhgaya in India, stands a large and historic Pipal Tree (ficus religiosa) known throughout history as the Bodhi Tree, under which the Shakyamuni Buddha, then known as Gautama, attained Enlightnment 2500 years ago.

The Buddha, had been practicing austerities for six years in the area near Bodhgaya. Finally understanding that this could not lead to realization, he abandoned his austerities and in the nearby village of Senani (now also known as Sujata) the Brahmin girl Sujata offered him milk rice. Strengthened by this, he took some kusha grass for a mat and sat under the Pipal Tree facing east. He resolved not to rise until he attained Enlightenment.

As he sat in deep meditation Mara, Lord of Illusion, symbolizing the delusions of one's own mind tried tirelessly to distract him from his purpose. Buddha then touched the Earth, calling it to bear witness to the countless lifetimes of virtue that led him to this place.

The earth shook confirming the truth of his words. Mara unleashed her army of demons to distract and tempt him from his purpose, but Gautama triumphed over the inner obstacles and the power of his compassion transformed the demons' weapons into flowers. His mind was utterly subdued.

For seven days after the Enlightenment, Buddha continued to meditate under the tree without moving from his seat. Another week passed in walking meditation, and for a third the Buddha contemplated under the Bodhi tree.

The earliest records on the tree are in the 'Kalingabodhi Jataka', which gives a vivid description of the tree and the surrounding area prior to the Enlightenment, and the 'Asokavadana', which relates the story of King Asoka's (3rd century B.C) conversion to Buddhism. His subsequent worship under the sacred tree apparently angered his queen to the point where she ordered the tree to be felled. Ashoka then piled up earth around the stump and poured milk on its roots. The tree miraculously revived and grew to a height of 37 metres. He then surrounded the tree with a stone wall some three meters high for its protection.

The bodhi tree is a representation of our journey to infinity. As the seed which begins tiny and hard grows open and free, so should the mind and heart. The tree is rooted in the ground but grows beyond the ground, as it perceives its environment, cares about it, and ultimately leaves the limitations of the body and matter behind. The branches reach towards the heaven yet the vines of the banyan reach towards the earth. Such is the state of mankind - always being pulled in many directions.

Kingdom Plantae

Plants Subkingdom Tracheobionta

Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta

Seed plants Division Magnoliophyta –

Flowering plants Class Magnoliopsida

Dicotyledons Subclass Hamamelidae

Order Urticales

Family Moraceae

Mulberry family Genus Ficus L.

fig Species Ficus religiosa L.

Height:
over 40 ft. (12 m)

Spacing:
30-40 ft. (9-12 m)

Hardiness:
USDA Zone 10b: to 1.7� C (35� F)
USDA Zone 11: above 4.5� C (40� F)

Sun Exposure:
Full Sun

Average Water Needs; Water regularly; do not overwater

skunk pies

2006-10-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

Oh thank goodness! The new camera was obliging enough to let me swap the memory card into a different venue and chisel the photos out from there. Now I have some catching up to do as there is yet another photo shoot today. Shall we begin with a bit of the macabre? At the onset of October I am all a flutter of anticipation for the approaching Hallows Eve. I'll be making a full on Dios Del Muertos dinner the following day and thus, researching the culinary extravaganza that occurs in places like Oaxaca and Ixtapa, yes I read cookbooks for fun.

This photo [sorry for its lack of focus, I'm not yet adept with the depth of field on the new lens] is an action shot from a dinner a few nights ago. It seemed obvious that if I were to foray into the realms of Mexicano delectablosos [yes, I know that's not a word] that I should invoke the Goddess of the land, thus the Virgin of Guadalupe sits on the stove watching over the poblanos and posole.

OK! Back to the macabre angle; a recent walk thru the cemetery turned into quite the odd photo shoot, it began with this amusing sign.

And then ventured past this beautiful lichen....
I'm so lichen it.

For the grand finale; you know how magpies are black and white? And you know how skunks are black and white? Well there's something about 3 magpies eating a dead skunk in a graveyard that is just totally over the top. I couldn't have even dreamed this one up! I took a whole series of "in flight" shoots but I'll spare you fragile kiddies the morbidity of it all.

And just so you don't all walk away thinking I've gone off the deep end, I DID of course take photos of flowers as well! These ones with the weird striped petals were at the front gate. Will anyone venture a guess as to why this happens? No, it wasn't paint.

memory is full

2006-09-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

If only I could download the images from this new camera (the one with the FULL memeory card) there would be some lovley new fotos with which I could amuse you all...but alas, it seems to be a bit more complicated than all that.

dig it

2006-09-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Came across 2 migrant workers yesterday pouring cement into forms to make walls. Looks like seriously complicated work, I can't even begin to wrap my mind around all the variables.

One of them attempted to habla espanol to me, he brought his hand to his head, wiped his brow and said, "Cabeza".

It was an hour later when I realized he was asking me,
"Que pasa?"
...Dang! I need to hurry up and learn...
EVERYTHING!!!

fancy drive'in

2006-09-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

Looks like this school bus tried the short cut...

straight thru a forest...
60 years ago...

That's what we call fancy drive'in...

thai massage

2006-09-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

A few images from yesterday's photo shoot...

darklight

2006-09-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

Lila has been drawing and writing up a storm recently.

*note for above image:
in his right hand he holds all the darkness in the world
and in his left hand, all the light.

These are but a smattering of what fills the 30 or so books
currently strewn about here room.

equine exstravaganza

2006-09-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

Spent the day photographing and rubbing elbows with horses
@ "Public Lands Appreciation Day". I appreciate Public Lands.
Do you appreciate public lands?
...Let's hear it for public lands!









The main event was held @ Mud Lake, about 1 mile North of Nederland.
[Head North out of town, @ " Caribou Ranch Public Lands" exit West.]
It's a lovely hike, especially with the apsens turning and all that....
Seemed that all the Governors, County Commissioners and
public officials from Larimer Country to Timbuktu were present.

















Apparently the lake is so perfectly round,
it's believed to have been formed in a
meteor crater...that's kinda cool.
















If you want a kitty, start out by asking for a horse.                                            
- Naomi, 15

cabbage juxtaposed

2006-09-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

My mother gives me vast quantities of vegetables that she grows in her garden. Following a recent visit to her house, I set this cabbage down to find my keys to unlock the door, I had to marvel at how nicely the green contrasted with the orange of the ladder...

and how nicely the light peeks thru the spaces the bugs nibbled.

x-rated moth whoopie

2006-09-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

As winter approaches, I spent several hours yesterday weeding the back garden and trying to make ready the earth for the first freeze. The entire time I was engaged in this task, these two moths were bouncing and flopping all over the yard making, what I can only assume, was moth whoopie.

It was quite an amazing thing to witness at all but what really struck me was that these two moths could even find each other in the first place. Its not as if I see huge gray and orange moths everyday, in fact I've only seen one, one other time and it was on a different continent. I wonder if they have a pre-arranged meeting place etched on their little moth psyches that gets passed down, generation after generation...

imprisoned flowers

2006-08-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Lookie! These cute little purple flowers decided to reach past this steel grating and bloom themselves into freedom!

Light will someday split you open
Even if your life is now a cage,
Love will surely bust you wide open
Into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy...
~Hafiz

homework of the devil

2006-08-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

Monday morning, there's Lila, in her second day as a squeeky clean-just out of the box freshman @ Boulder High School (with 2000 other attendies) and her science teacher mentions how much he really likes "chocolate devil's food cake", obviously dropping hints about how to get a good grade in his class.

Lila being the good Boulder edamame eating-spirulina drinking girl that she is, asks him what devil's food cake is (she's never had it). She can wax poetic about the differences between Lebanese and Moroccan baba ganoush, or discuss the subtleties of a well cooked masala dosa but when it comes to American cuisine (...can we even call it that?), she's a little in the dark.

The science teacher’s solution to this "tragisty" (my word, not his) was to reach elbow deep (according to Lila's descriptive re-telling of the progression of events) into a drawer and pull out a cake mix. Lila's homework for last night was to bake the cake. ...very cute indeed. We may have gotten a little carried away with the icing but how often does one get a chance to decorate a cake? For me it is seldom. I wanted to draw devils and pentagrams and the "fires of Hell" all over but Lila forbade it. In anycase, I think perhaps this homework assignment takes the cake....teee heee.

enzo

2006-08-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Last week I was hired to do some graphic design using images of the zen enzo. After working on the project and looking at the paintings for several hours, I found myself becoming quite captivated by what it was bringing into my awareness.

The enzo is the circle of infinity, circle of simplicity, circle of all beginnings and all endings. It contains emptiness and fullness and reminds us of All things visible, All things unseen and of course; to end is to begin and so on. The real appeal for me rests in the actual practice of creating the enzo. The monk sits in meditation and at the moment of enlightenment, paints the circle as an expression of his/her realization and unity with everything....

we sail 2 night 4 singapore

2006-08-26T14:56:00.000-07:00

Just play along 4 a moment, OK?
Lila and I spent this rainy Saturn-day working on the 10,000 things that needed tending to in our home but all the while, we were listening to Tom Waits wax poetic, his sweet gravely diatribes. By hour numero 3 I was feeling huge appreciation for the ole guy. He's just so ...sooo....soooo...everything that makes me happy!

In return for the countless years of fun his music has bestowed on me, here is my:

"Cheerleading 4 Tom Moment!"

We sail tonight for Singapore,
we're all as mad as hatters here
I've fallen for a tawny Moor,
took off to the land of Nod
Drank with all the Chinamen,
walked the sewers of Paris
I danced along a colored wind,
dangled from a rope of sand
You must say goodbye to me

Wipe him down with gasoline
'til his arms are hard and mean
From now on boys this iron boat's your home
So heave away, boys

We sail tonight for Singapore,
take your blankets from the floor
Wash your mouth out by the door,
the whole town's made of iron ore
Every witness turns to steam,
they all become Italian dreams
Fill your pockets up with earth,
get yourself a dollar's worth
Away boys, away boys, heave away

We sail tonight for Singapore,
don't fall asleep while you're ashore
Cross your heart and hope to die
when you hear the children cry
Let marrow bone and cleaver choose
while making feet for children shoes
Through the alley, back from hell,
when you hear that steeple bell
You must say goodbye to me

The captain is a one-armed dwarf,
he's throwing dice along the wharf
In the land of the blind
the one-eyed man is king, so take this ring

We sail tonight for Singapore,
we're all as mad as hatters here
I've fallen for a tawny Moor,
took off to the land of Nod
Drank with all the Chinamen,
walked the sewers of Paris
I drank along a colored wind,
I dangled from a rope of sand
You must say goodbye to me

dakini designs

2006-08-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

And let us not forget;
Your resident Dakini (Sanskrit: Cloud Dancer) is on call 4 you:
Need a business card, brochure, website, photoshot, or...?
Visit my website @:

www.dakinidesigns.net

The Dakini is described in the Buddhist texts as a female enitity, devoted to truth, higher meaning and enlightenment.

She awakens us with magic, dignity and splendor, celebrating and suffusing life with delight as she dances across the sky.

The behavior of Dakini is uncontrolable and mysterious but always revelatory; she responds to our deepest desires by dissolving us into truth. Love is her domain and to keep things intersting, she can assume any form.


















Dakini provoke and enervate life into being!
...Are you ready to ENERVATE?!

zen cabaret

2006-08-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

This is easily the best play I've seen in a very long time!

















I laughed so hard, I'm quite sure it added 10 yrs. to
my life -- and my dear friend Zazou plays 'Pink Slip'!
Plz try to see it!

catcti in the clouds

2006-08-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

ambrosial amusements

2006-08-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

The sinfulness factor is probably quite high but it doesn't seem to slow the requests for these: Cocoa Coconut Cookies -- or C5

3/4 C. unsweet cocoa powder
2 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 T. vanilla
5 large egg whites
1 3/4 C. coconut - shredded
1/2 C. chopped bittersweet chocolate

preheat oven @ 350
whisk together cocoa, coconut and salt
whisk eggs and vanilla
combine the wet ingredients with the dry
add coconut and chopped chocolate
mix for 2 minutes [batter should be quite viscus]
scoop into parchment or silpat
bake for 12 minutes or until fissures form
cool...

lake of gold

2006-08-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the incredible honor of taking some photos of my dear friend, teacher, student, nun in the midst of her asana practice.

In my travels I spent time with a great yogi. Once he said to me, “Become so still you hear the blood flowing through your veins.”

One night as I sat in quiet, I seemed on the verge of entering a world inside so vast...
the source of all.
-Mirabai

A strange passion is moving in my head.
My heart has become a bird which searches in the sky.
Every part of me goes in different directions.
Is it really so -
that the one I love is everywhere?
-Rumi

heart sutra

2006-08-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Came across this Buddha while walking @ Gold Lake last week.
The mudra he is holding is ever so complicated, I wonder what it means.

When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.
~Buddha

You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself. ~Buddha

straight on till dawn

2006-08-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last month I was hired to be an artistic consultant for the filming of a movie.

When the shooting began, the crew was required to arrive on location at dawn every morning.

This is what greeted us, the sort of sunrises that buckle the knees and take the breath away...

let there be light

2006-08-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

Ummm..yes, well...these photos that Conrad took the other day are certainly soliciting some amusing commentary. I say, "Bring it on! This is but one of the 10,000 ways that I touch God, 4 Real!" As Conrad was 'having a moment', I reminded him that, "As a temple dancer, there is nothing to worry about! I AM a trained professional after all!, non?"

If you would like to visit Conrad's foto site it can be found @:

www.fotoscape.com

And behold,
Jesus met them and greeted them.
And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
- Matthew 28:9

And God said:
Let there be light... and there was light.
-Genesis 1:3

wagon load of sky

2006-08-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

A few photoz from a recent romp thru the mountain town of Ward.

crushed angel

2006-07-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Pink Daisy
[photographed with Canon G6]

My Sweet, Crushed Angel,
You have not danced so badly my dear

Trying to hold hands with the Beautiful One.

You have waltzed with great style,
My sweet, Crushed Angel,
To have ever neared God's heart at all.

Our Partner is notoriously difficult to follow,
And even His best musicians are not always easy
To hear.

So what if the music has stopped for a while.

So what!
If the price of admission to the Divine
Is out of reach tonight.

So what, my dear,
If you do not have the ante to gamble for Real Love.

The mind and the body are famous
For holding the heart ransom,

But Hafiz knows the Beloved's eternal habits.

Have patience,

For He will not be able to resist your longing
For Long.

You have not danced so badly, my dear,
Trying to kiss the Beautiful One.

You have actually waltzed with tremendous style,
O my sweet,
Sweet Crushed Angel.

-- Hafiz

get behind the mule

2006-07-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

time was like never and always
we go there where nothing waits
and find everything that is waiting
--Neruda

dreaming in rust

2006-07-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

OK, it's true! The temple dancer has a "thang" for old trucks, Studebakers in particular.

I saw this one parked a few months back but each time I did a drive by shooting...of photos that is, the light was all wrong! On this day, the owner of the truck was in his yard talking on his cell ph. And the light was gooooood. As I pranced about his vehicle with my "toy" camera in tow (Holga 120 N) he approached me with concern that perhaps he had committed some transgression or maybe even a crime for which I was going to "report" him? "For what?" I ask, "owning such a nifty vehicle?"..."No way Man! You cool!"

I recently learned that Studebaker existed between 1897-1966. They experimented with "powered wagons" as early as 1897...long before Ford. Their main agenda was to create electric engines.... NOT!!! Gasoline ...whoa...can you imagine where that would have taken us? They worked on the manufacture electric vehicles from 1902 to 1912 but then the company entered into a distribution agreement with two manufacturers of gasoline powered vehicles in Detroit... all bets were off and the financial hemorrhaging began.