Sometimes, it feels like I live a surreal life. It is like the walls are growing, becoming topographical maps. Then, I look up at the walls at Progressive Grounds (2301 Bryant St, SF), see Phil McGaughy's installation, and realize that my life isn't a simile or a metaphor. It just is surreal.
This is just one of the moments in the last week that transport me, transform me, and tickle me.
I had the joy of hosting The Bloom's The Rising Fall. As it does, life happened, and I found myself searching for writers for a date only a week away. I asked friends, past readers, and customers and colleagues at Progressive Grounds. Suddenly, I have a full line-up of readers; each one unique, talented, and unafraid.
A day of unexpected rest followed. Then, it was time to Revive Spirits and the Dead with OutLook Theater Project. Featuring queer performances by Anthony Julius Williams, Roger Bovary, and Star Amerasu and hosted by moi, the seance literally raised the djed, summoned Aphrodite, and washed away our fears. It was an intimate moment of transcendence and remembrance.
Still, culture continued, and continues. Sunday, the afternoon was passed listening to classical music played by members of the San Francisco Sinfonietta, while cooking up meals for customers. It was satisfying and rejuvenating to witness such sustenance.
Yesterday, Ramona Soto was in the cafe engaging kids and parents alike in making art using shape, depth, and color for Crafty Afternoons. It was beautiful to witness parents getting their hands dirty next to their children. It is one of the things I like most about working at Progressive Grounds: the intergenerational, intercultural community that frequents the cafe.
Now today I am getting a new tattoo from my collaborator and tattooist Oliver Wong. This is all a part of my Ex Libris De Corpus project, a pen and ink transformation of body and story. He illustrated my folktale, "The Peach Thief". It will take between six and eight hours to complete. The pain will be there. So will meditation as I find tattooing to be the one thing that completely stills my mind.
This week of culture and community, of arts and wellness, of being and doing keeps my life surreal. I do not know exactly how I ended up here. I do know that I love it. I love looking around and witnessing the pluralism that comes from living a life filled with diversity. I love the tension that sometimes creates. And I love even more the revelations that result from an interconnected, surreal life.
One such revelation for me is that walls do grow. They are not a box in which we contain our selves, our beliefs, our bodies, our hearts, our minds. They change, morph, melt, contort. They expand and contrast. It took looking up at Phil McGaughy's work and the subsequent week of diverse events for me to find that revelation.
And tomorrow I will be in Petaluma, rehearsing with The Vespertine Orchestra for a performance on December 16. Even more culture and community and talent and art. Even more bending of walls.
This is just one of the moments in the last week that transport me, transform me, and tickle me.
I had the joy of hosting The Bloom's The Rising Fall. As it does, life happened, and I found myself searching for writers for a date only a week away. I asked friends, past readers, and customers and colleagues at Progressive Grounds. Suddenly, I have a full line-up of readers; each one unique, talented, and unafraid.
A day of unexpected rest followed. Then, it was time to Revive Spirits and the Dead with OutLook Theater Project. Featuring queer performances by Anthony Julius Williams, Roger Bovary, and Star Amerasu and hosted by moi, the seance literally raised the djed, summoned Aphrodite, and washed away our fears. It was an intimate moment of transcendence and remembrance.
Still, culture continued, and continues. Sunday, the afternoon was passed listening to classical music played by members of the San Francisco Sinfonietta, while cooking up meals for customers. It was satisfying and rejuvenating to witness such sustenance.
Yesterday, Ramona Soto was in the cafe engaging kids and parents alike in making art using shape, depth, and color for Crafty Afternoons. It was beautiful to witness parents getting their hands dirty next to their children. It is one of the things I like most about working at Progressive Grounds: the intergenerational, intercultural community that frequents the cafe.
Now today I am getting a new tattoo from my collaborator and tattooist Oliver Wong. This is all a part of my Ex Libris De Corpus project, a pen and ink transformation of body and story. He illustrated my folktale, "The Peach Thief". It will take between six and eight hours to complete. The pain will be there. So will meditation as I find tattooing to be the one thing that completely stills my mind.
This week of culture and community, of arts and wellness, of being and doing keeps my life surreal. I do not know exactly how I ended up here. I do know that I love it. I love looking around and witnessing the pluralism that comes from living a life filled with diversity. I love the tension that sometimes creates. And I love even more the revelations that result from an interconnected, surreal life.
One such revelation for me is that walls do grow. They are not a box in which we contain our selves, our beliefs, our bodies, our hearts, our minds. They change, morph, melt, contort. They expand and contrast. It took looking up at Phil McGaughy's work and the subsequent week of diverse events for me to find that revelation.
And tomorrow I will be in Petaluma, rehearsing with The Vespertine Orchestra for a performance on December 16. Even more culture and community and talent and art. Even more bending of walls.
UP NEXT?
Science Bytes, where Dr. Richard Sullivan from UCSF answers the question, "How do our immune systems shape our lives?"
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17 from 7pm to 9pm
Progressive Grounds Mission
2301 Bryant Street, SF
FREE
SHARE YOUR BELIEFS
I am working on an interactive performance on life, death, and the afterlife. I am trying to collect over 100 responses to my online survey. Please share your beliefs, and let others know too. Then, come see my performance at Reviving Spirits: The Dawn on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8. Doors open at 5pm. Progressive Grounds Mission (2301 Bryant St, SF). FREE.
Science Bytes, where Dr. Richard Sullivan from UCSF answers the question, "How do our immune systems shape our lives?"
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17 from 7pm to 9pm
Progressive Grounds Mission
2301 Bryant Street, SF
FREE
SHARE YOUR BELIEFS
I am working on an interactive performance on life, death, and the afterlife. I am trying to collect over 100 responses to my online survey. Please share your beliefs, and let others know too. Then, come see my performance at Reviving Spirits: The Dawn on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8. Doors open at 5pm. Progressive Grounds Mission (2301 Bryant St, SF). FREE.
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