Well met.

.su, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity...

The Second Coming | William Butler Yeats

I'm very fortunate to have met so many amazing people in my life at only 22. Actually, I feel amazing is the wrong word. I'm very fortunate to have met so many people that have opened my mind to so many different paths of.... No that's wrong as well.

I am very fortunate. To have met. The people that have made me who I am.

I don't mean family, though they have shaped me significantly. But I mean, the people who make lasting impressions even if the time they spend actually present in your life is fleeting.

My favorite poem is the The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats, the excerpt above is the first stanza. And as a friend and fellow Buddhist leader left my house just now, the line " Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.." came into mind... Even while I still had a smile on my face. And it was ironic, that this, my favorite line in my favorite poem... Would be so bleak and in such direct contrast to my belief in my faith that is... "No matter what, it will work out."

And this lead me to think about the many people in my life that have shaped my views on life... My AP lit professor who first introduced me to Yeats, by way of the book; Things Fall Apart. My different philosophy professors... my friend in Germany... the strangers I've met in my travels and yet had such great conversations on life with... My comrades in faith...

I'm not sure why, my line of thinking was such as it does not directly follow. However, perhaps it was simply that in that moment that I watched her leave and I reflected on: that poem, myself, and my beliefs... I felt so utterly centered in the core of things. The greater scheme, if you will... That I couldn't help but be grateful to the people who'd helped me to this point.

Truly. At times I feel like such a horrible person, as it is... so difficult for me to stay connected even though I do care so much... And I guess in those moments of binary, all I could think was...

Well met.

Anonymous Glory

Coachella | Feel Good Inc., originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

Groove Salad.

While I'd like to take the claim for creating the phrase, it belongs to the people over at SomaFM. Groove Salad is the name of the station I'm currently listening to, and judging by what I've been hearing so far it's mostly chill beats, ambient, and trip hop. I dig it. What's more, it matches so perfectly to the mood I find myself in at 6:40 in the morning after an unironically sleepless night it's crazy.

It's funny. In a kind of, kind of way. Usually when I wake up I need silence for a couple of hours. Complete silence. With noise coming from nothing, including me. I like to slowly enter awareness; to ease into the day seamlessly by integrating sound only after my buffer period of quiet has ended naturally by chance.

However, on days or rather mornings, like this one... When I've watched my window darken through to night only to slowly phase through the colors of early morning... I find music to be the perfect accompany to the mood I usually find myself in.

But what I always find interesting, or pleasant, or random... Or whatever unnamed word of description that matches best... Is when by chance, I press play my on my iTunes player that is chronically shuffled... Or like today [this morning that is], when I stumble upon an internet radio station and press play to the channel that draws me by name...

And find the music selection so tailor made to how I feel... So perfectly appropriate that I think... This is why I love music. Because I live it. It regulates my heartbeat and determines my moods. It hits my system harder then any drug could ever hope to...

And I think, if I cannot have sleep... At least I have this.

"You know, it just might be this anonymous glory... of all things"

Choose Privacy

Choose Privacy Week Video from 20K Films on Vimeo.

Simply put, the ALA are a group of badasses and it gives me comfort to know the library... My first external escape, is being guarded so fiercely.

I remember when the Patriot Act first got put into place and I remember going into libraries and seeing the signs. Reading the articles from pissed off librarians and watching as they got called all manner of names during the, 'You're either a Patriot: And by patriot we mean you give us all of your information and all of everybody else's.... Or your a terrorist' And yet through it all, librarians stayed true. They did what journalists didn't do. And for that they have my respect and should have yours as well.

Do watch the video.

"Have they lost their heads or are they just all blind mice?"

Tragic Kingdom

What Dreams

eye, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

May come | or | Dream a little dream.

Funny, when I think about movies with 'Dream' in the title only these two come to mind. Furthering the funny, Dream a Little Dream one of my favorite 80s movies probably more so then all of Molly Ringwalds...Came out in 1989. What Dreams May Come came out in 1998.

Coincidence? More then likely.

However, I didn't wake up with the intent to talk about movie titles. The titles are merely an after effect or rather cause made by the dreams I've been having lately.

I've been dreaming lately. Which, if I'm being honest isn't really new. However, my dreams have been more... confused. Not in the sense that I wake up can not remember what I dreamed about... Or at least not on most days. But confused in the emotion they involve. They've become both disturbing in a nightmarish quality I haven't fully experienced since I was young... And, ok I'll put it frankly romantic. And no I don't mean sexy time. I mean, romantic. Which is a problem in itself. The woman I saw last night was a mash up of a new friend and a random woman I encountered at Coachella.

But the dreams are ccnfused. One portion of the dream involves me in some hellish setting. The other, I guess you could say once I'm 'free' involves a girl. Sometimes the two portions meld. Offering bits of both during both. Last night was a bit of a meld.

I'm a buddhist. However, I've been stressed lately and not practicing as much as I should. Last night's horror part of the story will seem exceedingly strange and unlikely. But I dreamed that I was in a supermarket... |Actually I just realized this was my second dream after waking up briefly. The first one was completely disturbing with no respite of romance or friendship|... with my little sister. And while shopping we passed a group of people actually cooking a full meal. Like a massive holiday dinner type meal. It was annoying because they were blocking the aisle , but they seemed nice so I tried to move on. They offered something to my little sister and she became instantly brainwashed.

Weird, I know whatever. But see, these people were part of the Priesthood. Or for some reason I want to say the priesthood, they may not have been. I think they were just another Nichiren Daishonin offshoot. And they chanted "Namu Myoho Renge Kyo."

For some reason the sound of them chanting incorrectly was terrifying. So I ran. While running I ran into a woman, it was only for a second. A brief respite from the terror, then I was running and dodging again. I don't remember how I got them to stop exactly. I think I shouted, "I'M A BUDDHIST TOO! But you're saying it wrong! It's Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo"

And it was over. Or the terrifying part was. Then I was asking around the supermarket for the woman, and right as I was about to leave she comes out of her office. She smiles and we leave the supermarket while talking and flirting. That's pretty much the rest of the dream summed up. However the world when we left the store... Or rather the landscape was very Mad Max-ish just, barren with very little green.

I don't know... To much stress makes dreams and odd world.

Born Free

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

I know, I know... Still no Coachella 2010 recap! Actually I'm pretty positive you guys are glad about that. I mean, can I wax on or what?

Well I'm sorry if music excites me.

And right now, nothing is exciting me more then the fact that it appears that M.I.A. is back. Clearly, the above video is well, a video and not a photo that I've taken. Well this is a music video [actually I hesitate to call it a music video. Let's call it a mini movie.] Directed by Romain Gavras. In this video, M.I.A.'s first song off of her still untitled and yet to be released newest album called, Born Free.

Now there's much discussion going on about this video. Some are calling it to violent. Some say that it's to sensationalized. Some are going so far as to call M.I.A. a hypocrite.

My take, if you haven't already cottened on... I think it's about time M.I.A. went back to talking politics in her music instead of doing over produced singles with Timbaland. This video speaks to what's going on in the world by bringing proximity. People are saying that this video makes M.I.A. a hypocrite because of how violent it is when she speaks non violence. But more then non-violence, M.I.A. wants people to be aware. And in this video if you substitute the red-heads for any sub-group in existence today, it would show reality.

Honestly, the only way this video could be MORE real is if she used an actual clip of what most would consider 'war crimes' and yet are becoming more and more common practice.

Some people took an overly literal take of this video and said this video is anti-American. However, if you take the cops [or military] in the video and give them accents... They could be any super power in the world. If you dress them differently, they could be any 'terrorist' group in the world.

My opinion? This video is a super shiny mirror. And a lot of people are disturbed by what they see.

Random Thoughts Before Bed

Coachella Campgrounds, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

Isn't it amazing how after seeing a band live just the thought of the experience instantly transplants you back there?

For example, just now I was outside and I started thinking about Muse while standing outside. And just like that, I'm back in the Polo fields dancing to the Resistance with thousands of other strangers. And the awesome thing about that is, that experience will always be with me. Whenever I hear their music my mind will always instantly go back to the Polo fields.

And just as I was listening to the music that only I could hear, dancing with the feel of grass on my feet still very much there... And just like that, the beginning of the song "No Such Thing" by John Mayer pops in my head.

Opening chords leading into, "WELCOME to the real world she said to me...."

It was crazy. Because at first I had to pause. How did I go from Muse's Resistance to John Mayer's No Such Thing?

However, as I continued to think about it became increasingly apparent. And really, it came to me quickly.

I had a conversation with some of my neighbors at Coachella about this.

Experiences are forever. Money, status, degrees? Sure they could last. But on your death bed, which would you rather have? A bank full of money or a lifetime of amazing memories?

For me, the answer is easy. I want to be rich in experience. I want enough money to get by, anything more is an extra bonus.

And in the meantime, I'll keep dancing to the music only I can hear.

Dare

IMG_3560, originally uploaded by SisterSafetyPin.

Coachella is 7 Days away and I have no idea how to properly put to words how I feel.

After all, the Coachella Music and Arts Festival is much more then a music festival. It's an experience. And describing an experience is a bit like describing a mirage. It'll never be quite like the brilliance you see.

And how could it? How could I explain the experience of listening to the bands that will play Coachella, knowing that soon I'll be experiencing it live? How can I explain the feeling of driving past the windmills, knowing that you're almost there? How can I explain the utter brilliance of standing in the campgrounds at sunset, looking around and seeing flags from every country imaginable and knowing everyone there is feeling the same thing? How exactly I describe restless excitement of coming home? Where music reigns supreme and everyone around you simply gets it?

Because, for those like me... The Campers, the die-hards, the people that attend rain or shine, no matter the tragedy experienced through out the rest of the year... Coachella is a breath of fresh air. A moment of sanity in a world of chaos. It's 3 days of music and 4 Days of celebration. A haven.

And just, how does one explain all that?