tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11154984270710812292024-03-13T00:21:59.077-04:00 Bottom Lines and Wet Noodlesassorted musings, riffs, rants and editorials from a (Cree) wide-eyed warriorLarry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-23451770768978104312023-05-09T06:36:00.006-04:002023-05-09T06:36:50.027-04:00Larry (The Artist Formerly Known as) Nicholson reporting <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='314' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzJdyRwu5qjHQ5vA_huOfPcAE0XCV1Q1900rv750gfTwvQlwDiCOQK9B2yRgQ6dUWGN-epMknQ8Eu2EXm4GqA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">commercial for the old newsfeed program</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-25693822865103023712021-05-19T11:17:00.069-04:002021-07-28T13:21:08.270-04:00What's It All Worth? (article)<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcDXFGLCAKpEz4oQsdXI2G5ne3D0rg12_gG87skcS8_VDHsn1uFxbcyfVThrJcaeQlOBh1wLNaftbjMwMXEVMdqqL53nTmFOxeAiO9HTIUACUOkBbayCsUxeRX6XXF2iBClbfA0Khr-g0/s1875/space+flight+in+suit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1875" data-original-width="1875" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcDXFGLCAKpEz4oQsdXI2G5ne3D0rg12_gG87skcS8_VDHsn1uFxbcyfVThrJcaeQlOBh1wLNaftbjMwMXEVMdqqL53nTmFOxeAiO9HTIUACUOkBbayCsUxeRX6XXF2iBClbfA0Khr-g0/w383-h374/space+flight+in+suit.jpg" width="383" /></a></div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was
asked in early 2020 to contribute (in x-amount of words) to my friend's college assignment, part of which called for students to
compile 3 accounts of what "Culture" meant to those who had
experienced foster care in Canada. I gladly contributed as
the student is a dear friend. The question or assignment, as posed to me, was:
<u>write about the impact the 60’s Scoop had on you regarding your culture</u>. Here
is my response.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><i>I am 50
years old as I write this and am one who “aged-out” while in care. Meaning I
turned 18, the legal age of consent in Alberta and up to then I had remained in
government care in that province. My last social worker gave me a toaster,
wished me luck then closed my file. I could no longer turn to the province
(social workers) for assistance, programs or supports, and without any
connection to family or community of origin, I was on my own. I mean, I had
never reached out to a social worker anyway, I was told, "they're coming on this day, come home and change your clothes." I see now how performative it all was. To that point I had spent my entire life in foster care,
yet I was never told who they were, what they were for, what their role in my life was. I simply understood it was for me to please them in some way, get their approval. I was never told or given insight into what my true
circumstances were or those of my natural family. I was so naive I didn't even know til way late in life that foster parents were paid each month to "care" for me. I thought it was simply a kindness, so, I felt obligated the whole time. There was no contact with my
birth parents, no "programs" anyway, not like today, at all - no integration whatsoever within the native community in
Calgary while growing up in all non-native foster situations. Later, while on
my own healing journey I discovered first-hand growing up this way can lead to basic and complicated emotional issues around love, trust, abandonment, authority, self worth, identity, loss and grief and so much more.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><i>It still seems
to me people wield the term “culture” either as a weapon or something akin to a
prized possession, a really nice shirt –“who in this room knows their culture?” or "who's the biggest Indian! - or, mine's bigger n yours!?" In its most common usage, context or understanding and in reference to 1st Nations
people, it tends to mean language fluency, hunting/fishing, drumming or regalia focused
activity (powwow/dancing) or time-immemorial-speak, featuring furry animals designed to encode how one should conduct themselves. I’d wager that little else enters the mind when one
thinks of culture and a Native person. If you don't overtly display these items you are written off or disregarded as being "without culture" by both Native and Non (I'm generalizing, but it's the rule not the exception). While not growing up with the features
listed can be tragic, sad, something to mourn, the fact is, I can still
experience those things if I make the effort and get proper guidance in doing so, so I have not “lost’ them as I see it…But if, as I contend, we occupy one or more cultures simultaneously, where no one actually exists within a literal mono-culture then it is the everyday,
mundane, banal experiences most people take for granted that I have missed most
profoundly and can never get back. Loss of this part of my culture has been devastating. I will
never know the sound of my mom’s voice, that voice which nurtures, soothes,
comforts and guides people their whole lives. I don’t know either of my
parent’s favorite songs or movies. I don’t know how they met. I don’t know
which handed they were (their strong hand). I don’t know their favorite food. I
don’t know what time of day I was born, who picked my name or why. I never held
my dad’s hand, talked to him about the birds or the bees or how Crees came into
the world. I never sat at a dinner table with either of my parents or any of my
brothers and sisters, small talking, teasing, pretending to argue. I don’t know
what either of their childhood’s looked like. I don’t know a world with
Grandparents in it, I never met any of them. I don’t know what it’s like to see
biological family spend time with my kids, just spending time. I remember
observing my daughters through a bedroom window during an unguarded moment
between them in Ottawa while they chatted and absent-mindedly volleyed a badminton bird
back and forth. They were 14 and 11 years old. I can’t recall their words, just
sound of their voices and, for me, the simple yet intense beauty of their
kinship, their wit, their mutual affection and their perfect innocence. It was
like an ache, but a good ache and it is locked safely in my memory. These and a
thousand other basic, everyday experiences between any of my family or with any
of my family – never to occur in this life. Never. The simple yet
soul-nurturing events that happen a thousand times a day and are among
necessities for life right alongside air, food and shelter are among what has
been lost and what I’ve been most damaged by. Never mind the demoralizing facts
of history, colonization, confederation, assimilation, death, disease,
displacement, relocation, residential school, foster care, murdered and missing
women and the accelerated rate of mortality of my people…and so much more. I could list so...much...more. Home?!?! Now that is an abstract concept and always changing for someone of my
disposition, if there are such people . In my personal and professional experience I
have consistently observed posers, frauds and people so desperate for
validation they adopt "culture tunnel-vision" that is, canceling in
their minds anything counter to the noble, stoic portrayal of the drumming, misplaced
warrior learning from their elder that very morning that, you know, sketchy
behavior, for instance, is - hello? - not cool, man! These professional, knowledge-keeper types do really well for themselves I've observed. The rest of us discounted for not embodying the soft inside, gentle, quiet, braided-being they prefer. I am more than happy to burst their lame bubbles and work frontline with individuals and families helping navigate urban wilderness. I work very very very hard to stay vigilant so I that I don't project all my "stuff' onto my girls. I find myself unable to even write this
small note in one sitting as it is all enough to make me want to scream, still.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: times;"><i>Near-constant mental processing and
compartmentalization, endless self-talk, consistent reassurance to oneself that
you count, that you are important, that you are loved, that things you do or
say matter when any discussion turns to family, family history, culture,
cultural awareness, teachings, elders and all the political and legal
wrangling, which seem incessant subtext to these topics, is essential. I have
teachings such as they are about an afterlife and have learned lots about ways of mourning, grieving and the rituals around them, why they matter and how they
function as they do – these are clear, they are obvious. Will I ever see any of my
family – like, in an “after-life” or "next life" of some sort?
I do not take that kind of stuff for granted. I can't. In fact there are very
few things I can take for granted. I believe I am skeptical (not cynical) by
nature and suspicious by experience. I observe what people say and what they do
and believe myself to have strong skills for thinking critically. If the
question were put: what is your culture or what is culture to you? My response
would be that culture is how I live everyday, the varied realities that I am
engrossed in most often – the chosen communities where I live and work. My
culture consists of all the relationships I engage in and the values that
emanate but it is also involves the predominant thoughts and impulses I have
around these ideas. Despair is never far away, still, after all this time, observant people see clearly my "fronts." But
I work to understand myself in spiritual, essential terms not religious ones and it's crucial for me to have historical and political awareness and facts. I have worked exclusively with or for Native people and organizations serving Native people since '96. Wherever I am I go where Natives go, it just feels emotionally safer. I do modest ceremony, I get counseling (still), I stay connected to those I feel are authentic types...and yet I still often feel unworthy of bothering many bright elders I look up to - </i></span><i style="font-family: times;">I am like a lot of other "scooped" people in this regard but I haven't stopped working on it. When does it change? Today, maybe? My
inexhaustible hope is that my girls are careful observers and that they have
the courage to think for themselves, that they take that very risk, so that
much more truth, beauty and wisdom might come to them. This is the reality, the
culture, and the salvation in which I strive daily to be immersed.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">---</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">I despise the term "60's Scoop" or being referred to as a
"Scooper" but I get it, people need a reference point. I do, however, want to
indicate that authentic 1st Nations culture is REAL (language fluency, ceremonies, strong communities, families and individuals, all aspects, really) - it does exist and is alive, thriving, robust and in
places amid all the areas I've designated above. This whole blog has been about
the authentic culture that is every place one cares to really look and I am lucky to experience some of it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">©2021
Champsteen Publishing</span></p></div><div><br /></div><div><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span lang="EN-CA"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"></span></div>Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-62259613738219497702019-11-16T10:17:00.005-05:002021-03-09T20:06:23.192-05:00Poem published in The Salt Chuck City Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>On Becoming A River</b></span></div>
<div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtOqEjVFh3obya8FevsovbLAZKncB_jvseVd5qIunXKDS68WkCE5RIJc4K844hrz6AavxAT5x2MC6VRtf1Xel-0LB6uKwAccJQVIE8jhYTxvvwNP05JdrD9zM04a8ybYdmT8vBJO6JUg/s1600/20191116_001411.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmtOqEjVFh3obya8FevsovbLAZKncB_jvseVd5qIunXKDS68WkCE5RIJc4K844hrz6AavxAT5x2MC6VRtf1Xel-0LB6uKwAccJQVIE8jhYTxvvwNP05JdrD9zM04a8ybYdmT8vBJO6JUg/w273-h400/20191116_001411.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
<div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Just days ago</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I drove through Squamish Mountains</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">with a Haida boy and a young Cree girl,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">the young travelers and me</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">bound for ceremony in Stat-lee-um woods</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">glancing at the young ones</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I was for a moment fearful of what lay before them,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">not the ceremony but the hostile world, the merciless world</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">of course, only people are foolish enough to concern themselves with things yet to be</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I am still learning</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">think like a river, I said out loud to them</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">the words once given to me by an old Ojibway woman,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">when I was younger</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">think like a river and it may be so, she said</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">her words lingered in the air and my mind drifted into holy memory</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">my own place of sacred things</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">here, I return again and again</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">to a tranquil spot at a slight curve on the South Thompson,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">amid the lush breast of *Secwepemc Territory</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">and long amber rays of warm and dusky sunlight in the early October evening –</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">it is the Moon of Falling Leaves</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">managing to find myself alone</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I sit among the sandy banks in silence,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">in clear view of the gravel shallows near me where the river is but a trickle –</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Here, can be heard the din of insects, all winged and buzzing things</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">flitting and darting above the abundant deposits of fresh bear scat,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The cackle of distracted crows and their lunatic agenda</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">A pair of eagles, one disheveled if not slightly ragged,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">the other regal, its feathers smooth and nearly black with age,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">clearly a couple, they feast undisturbed on carrion the far side of the bend</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Dispersed everywhere in places farther and closer to me</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">are the sacrificial smelt and decaying forms of spent salmon</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">the sentient beings somehow still dignified, still important</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">as evidenced by the whole host of life teeming at their scattered and bountiful remains</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">their eroding but nutrient bodies feeding and caring for all who live here</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">There is nothing worldly here, just peace and murmuring stillness</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Serenity lulls me into warm thoughts of drifting away, perhaps forever</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">with the soothing currents in the middle deeper waters</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I breathe in the same particles of air that rushed through throats and filled the lungs</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">of tribespeople in my grandmother's grandmother's age,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">air that has passed continuously through life on earth, endlessly, infinitely...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The calm shattered by a flash</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I am startled by the sun-splashed, quicksilver burst</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">of an immaculate fish lifting itself into the air, into a somersault -</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">upside down and backwards</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">as if desperate to cry out: I am here!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Its thrash - a glorious display, definitive and remarkable</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">then a spattering commotion and downward return to life below the surface with the rest</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The split-second event a defiant response to forces</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">that would deter the relentless quest for home</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The reserves of stamina remaining steadfast </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">in the mission, the quest, maybe even the pilgrimage –</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">perhaps the very reason for being</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Not predators, currents or the fearsome march of time</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">will keep them from going home</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">In that instant I was touched...changed</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">became connected to ones vying for that place just a little further on</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">our kinship rooted in our obedience to a great if not solitary pursuit,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">we are orphans of a type,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">coming into the world seemingly at the expense of our parent's lives,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">like the young smolt and fry, my folks gave their lives to bring me here</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">and I have made this entire journey without them</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">a drama composed for me by unknown hands</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I cannot speak for the salmon</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">but mine has always been a longing to be defined by something other than absence</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">so, I exalt in remembering that ordinary day emptying into twilight,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">sitting there thinking wild thoughts before joining the night and stars</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Since then,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I remain susceptible to those wild thoughts</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">and to thinking of myself as that river</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">meandering</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">raging</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">rolling</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">treacherous</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">formidable</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">coursing</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">swirling</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">dark, deep and sometimes shallow</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">but with clear origins at the feet of venerable mountains,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">like the bloodlines to ancestors,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">this may well be where I emerged out of spirit into being...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">forever enchanted by you and a moment in time,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">actually, changed in that moment</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">now always the memory of that moment</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">and this, my own momentous cry that I was here</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes the reasons for things in life cannot be named</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Where once I was a boy with the worship solely of buffalo in my blood</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">now, these many miles and years later I come endowed</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">with reverence for salmon and for the lifelong voyage home in my wandering soul</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">It is a blessing to be Indian, more so to be Cree</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">but I am more like the salmon these days</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">more a creature at once resilient and fragile,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">manipulated and wild,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">at times I think it sinful of me to envy the majestic and unassuming salmon</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">or to wish to unlock the secrets of the great ocean pasture that only they know</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">observing their stark refusal to be anything but what they are</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">their graceful singularity of purpose to be undaunted</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I am contented in believing the songs of these places</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">do not end at the banks and tree-lines of territories</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">but are alive and sung in the hearts of those who love these things</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I am no elder</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">but I know that people protect what they love –</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I know this much</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">So, for now I remain willingly chained to my life as a freedom fighter in the false-hearted city</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">witnessing and sometimes helping establish small freedoms,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">occasional escapes by those Indians with some place to go</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">I hurl myself ever upstream through the urban wilderness,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">inventing ceremony and ways of manifesting cracks</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">because like Uncle Leonard said, THAT's how the light gets in</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">still navigating the roiling waters, where I have been shown by salmon</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">that even without mom and dad to help them along</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">even the tiny roe, on their own,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">still manage to find fire for life in the cold stone of a river bed</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">It seems to me now that I may have been called to the edge of that water</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">a response to my yearning to be kept in the heart of things</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">if not in the ones that I love</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">as when salmon quit the sea and the river calls them home,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">upstream to the birthplace</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">to fertilize the alpine womb</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">But I am fed, warmed and infused with the spirit and memory of that place</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">There are many ways to salvation and one of them is a river</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">so, I am thinking like a river</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">because inside me is a nameless salmon</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">a salmon leaping - leaping for life - into the eternal and transcendent moment</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">where all beings merge into one</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Hearing an ancient song only the heart understands –</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">the sound and vision clutched and held onto by one dazed and love-sick Cree</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">all dissolving into distance and oblivion</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">*(Secwepemc: Shuswap)</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-90090455737877558782018-06-06T02:32:00.000-04:002018-06-06T02:55:33.528-04:00a fillem for the 2 Oji-Cree girls who rule my heart...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwkTswWMSMzNjUQF1l4hch5a9TAs0GcHR-Bi8f-joSqnmIhkGMI1eC34SZKoSYfUJadquW0jvdXHA8aCnCCFA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
for Storm & Grace</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-35630605824582536252018-02-26T03:10:00.003-05:002018-04-07T00:24:59.347-04:00Springsteen on Broadway<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0xGuuU7BoakP7xUX4NvDaks12icPOHRG0-ql3uEVmW1qXgQu3IJhVZVzKYsCgB7udx4YZdZFUOvkOe8RG-fYsufU95cwIp-2mxfQB7OnwT0K1cAREapRwI85abCV6XWJuIK3R4R5wKI/s1600/BoBWay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="675" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0xGuuU7BoakP7xUX4NvDaks12icPOHRG0-ql3uEVmW1qXgQu3IJhVZVzKYsCgB7udx4YZdZFUOvkOe8RG-fYsufU95cwIp-2mxfQB7OnwT0K1cAREapRwI85abCV6XWJuIK3R4R5wKI/s640/BoBWay.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>onstage at Walter Kerr Theater, November 17, 2017</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">The Set Up</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">My guy heads
into the autumn (if not winter) of his time onstage and headlines his first
Broadway show at the tiny (and I mean, TINY) Walter Kerr Theater. Not a bad
seat in the house in this ancient and refurbished theater nestled on 48<sup>th</sup>
Street, just off Times Square. I effectively won 2 lotteries to gain an access
code to use the morning tickets went on-sale and I still had to vie with everyone
else who made it that far. But, something about me and the Boss…we’re bound to be together!...I
scored tickets and lo and behold touched down at La Guardia air port 24 hours
before the Friday night performance. We took a room at the
distinguished Barclay Intercontinental Hotel (also on 48<sup>th</sup> and easy
walking distance to the venue). At last, The Champ sees the Boss in New York
City.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><b>The Show</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The performance
was not a concert proper but rather a scripted performance (it IS Broadway after all) compiled of spoken word
sections, inspired by, if not quoted directly, from Springsteen’s acclaimed
biography, released in September 2016 – and 15 songs played randomly on guitar
and piano. No accompanying band, no video screens, a stark and rough-hewn
backdrop set and basic lighting to augment mostly the songs. The audience was
treated to a one-of-a-kind performance quite unlike anything he’s ever done
before. The songs seemed chosen to accentuate the various themes Springsteen presented and were elegantly laid bare in stories with intimate insights on his
roots – familial, geographical and musical. Fans like me know most of the
superficial details of the Boss’s life on the Jersey shore and his meteoric
rise to super-stardom that continues unabated to this day, evidenced by
his sold-out worldwide River Tour of 2016/17 which filled North American arenas
and vast stadiums all over Europe – I saw his most recent show in
Seattle on that tour (and was back in Seattle half a year later to meet and
greet the Boss at a book launch promotion, where again I was lucky enough to be
among the limited few granted access). It was thrilling to see my guy in such
an intimate setting and to hear him tell stories full of poignant insight and
detail. There was even a point where I may have gotten a little choked up and teary,
maybe - </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">I can’t really remember. But sublime versions of My Hometown (on piano), My Father's House, Growin' Up and of course Born to Run made one understand that a good song is timeless and a great performer breathes new life into such songs, every night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Thanks Boss,
you always come through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Oh yeah, New
York!...I’ll do a separate post on it later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">©2018 Champsteen Publishing</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-78407311170262299292017-09-04T02:28:00.005-04:002017-09-11T02:40:08.098-04:00Twilight Life (song)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz-T8EITUJXsMi4-8rbHYjMxU8kkKrWHDYfnBCpGADxFOAYW-dEZyhN7kh8kGsCBtbiWB4LVzl-u9Ze0zojLA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
words & music by Larry</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">a
black-haired woman walks down to the edge of dark water</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">a clutch
roses in her arms for the all the lost tribes with homes on the sea<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">ghostly
waves beat the shore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">like
spectral ones come before<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">taking
solace in storms and the things that'll be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">a thousand
kisses won’t mend the bend in your heart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">nothing in
this world that you’ve seen helps you come to grips with your fate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">play the
undertaker’s blues<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">get confused
by the rules<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">you want no
piece of the illusion that they call hate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">chorus 1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">when you
stand high on the piny ridge of that beautiful mountain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">and look
across the expanse of the beautiful sea<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">your heart
beats so fast<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">there’s no
future no past<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">there’s no
feeling alone in your twilight life…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">chorus 2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">when you
rise up to a silver moon where you wait for no one<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">you find that
place with your love where you reach for the sky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">there’s no
secrets to keep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">living
forever deep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">all you know
is the quiet of your twilight life…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">the orphan
girl diving down in the urban jungle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">a nameless
child walks the streets named for sons of the city long since dead<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">wears a coat
full of holes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">stepping
over lost souls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">never
understood anything that they’ve said<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">all the roads
lead us home to that same mystic garden<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">fires
burn and the smoke bathes our bodies in ashes and in coal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">the wind
cuts like a knife</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">no one come back alive</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">there’s no
need for explaining in this twilight life…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">(chorus 1)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">©2017
Champsteen Publishing</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-81256689794791754502016-07-26T02:27:00.000-04:002017-09-07T01:56:33.586-04:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace; font-size: x-large;">..."you see a light and then another"...</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyq-wa2CLlHBiBqMvzVQ90LLpsTKynZ9r90_4JS9QI0u2X8itU1JIZmBCmUPJ8jCf3hh6BdN-PxylUG9CbdEA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" dir="rtl" style="clear: both; text-align: right;">
Stay - The tragically Hip</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">In late August '96 I had just moved to
Penticton BC, from the rez in Alberta and was about to begin art
school. I was so excited to be living in the Okanagan and the road
ahead seemed to stretch out before me in infinite directions. I had
spent the better part of the Summer in Europe and had actually made
some money part of which I used to buy one sweet guitar. In my new room
I sat nursing beverages while strumming away then turned up the
volume on the television to hear Gord Downie telling the interviewer
what the best thing was about being the singer for the Tragically Hip. He
said that besides getting to spend so much time with his friends the best
part was being able to make a living from his imagination. What a
wondrous thing. I've never forgotten that sentiment.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">In the work-a-day, 9 to 5 world it's
easy to take people and things for granted. I admit that with the Hip
it was easy to do because they've always been there. Their first
record came out in '87, the year I turned 18. All told, they've
released 14 albums and I honestly can't recall how many times I've
seen them in concert but as I head to Rogers Arena tomorrow night to
see them it seems that it just may be for the final time as lead singer
Gord Downie has been diagnosed with inoperable and terminal brain
cancer. Reviews for the shows previous to this one have been stellar
and I head there not for goodbyes or sentimental reasons, The Hip aren't that kind of band. They are vital and robust artists and
musicians who have collectively harnessed a creative energy that has
sustained them over a career and given us, their admirers, a hell of
a lot of good music. I'll go see The Hip for perhaps the last time
and strum my air guitar at my side as usual. I'll rock out, I'll be
thankful and it will seem important that I am there in
the same large room with them doing what we were both meant to do...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">...but tonight as I write this I can't
stop listening to this song over and over again...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">©
2016 Champsteen Publishing</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-40185631039774051562016-06-18T15:14:00.001-04:002017-09-07T10:27:57.713-04:00The Game (song)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwuL0qDmUZoFnvlLI-OhJH8cdGMhhwJhoA8UMxyuA_i3unV_Tb7-1OfxoBZu2KmGNR6ZjEuwmOIRtcSMFAucA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">this recording made when I was 19 or 20...one of the first two songs I ever wrote...which means I've been writing and singing bad songs for nigh on 26 years!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday, in court details released from a plagiarism trial involving Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, it was revealed that the song Stairway To Heaven has so far earned $526 million dollars - that's from ONE SONG!!!...so you see, as I've been saying for as long as I can remember, all I need is one hit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...this probably ain't it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I wrote the song - I'm singing and playing acoustic, Ben's bass and background vocals, John's on electric guitar and Jason's on drums.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , "trebuchet" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Game</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>There's
a picture of you in my head</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>that'll
never fade</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>and
your voice plays like a record</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>over
and over again</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i> when
you look into my eyes can you</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>see
what might have been</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>this
game that we keep playin'</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>we'll
never win...</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br />
</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>When
it hits the fan it seems like</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>I'm
always to blame</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>when
the sun is shining for you </i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>you
don't remember my name</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>if
there's room in your heart for me</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>I
wish you'd let me know</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>you
always say that you're thinkin' of me</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>but
it doesn't show...</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br />
</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>(chorus)</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>I
play the game and you pull my chain</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>either
way, baby, it's always the same</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>you
make the rules and I play the fool for you</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 0.48cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: #cccccc; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>I
play the fool...</i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">©</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">
2016 Champsteen Publishing</span></i></span></div>
</div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-65910025054766651072015-11-18T04:13:00.004-05:002015-11-24T22:59:14.353-05:00Humming Bird Dreams Press launches BROKEN MAN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuDrwFtfFtgqSBGQDw-Jf3BZHAKMi85adcWujEnulCjpxN6ROi-7Cux9qy6uXgsGvsZ3d-fsYXEJ-K8ONRjz1yEn2cLRbl639wWw7v26wYNfkv_8Cn3JiyyutTExUZhelVhdd3kKFqD4/s1600/raul_0003_23045636175_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6feFOtRo_kTfZ8z_u9yOHQ0_1Q7IteYJ3zsFZfI9K1QitZJ97GUuNo1Jm9BE6uuobUQcvpZFBiSJ-Ivy-ds1SmH9pH1UWKuYzigCiXjTAT_UdgzDHZqe-kFPmSqW6PQLU5iwNtO07b20/s1600/raul_0006_23056831331_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47qzIDVYHKgH7pNuHsrYRAajZBlrJyu0vvXxFLKMnM_xObIpbK_oNDP_uAgO9xBNm0FRu0NLWf6BruuPagFrxe-wsa_3Nh2SNPVEWrNLhittnRhAEc2typnIfQe5lzwzGi2AQYsHMRWw/s1600/broken+man+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47qzIDVYHKgH7pNuHsrYRAajZBlrJyu0vvXxFLKMnM_xObIpbK_oNDP_uAgO9xBNm0FRu0NLWf6BruuPagFrxe-wsa_3Nh2SNPVEWrNLhittnRhAEc2typnIfQe5lzwzGi2AQYsHMRWw/s640/broken+man+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8vgtZK_-2C_1qWFEQ_V6sAHfatj5B4l4gDlPk8Iej-e_BqnXQj4kHy8IjvCd9T1VNMePIXBn3IntwO5k8bgeIgEpOKHkUYgArfqpC1SFjKija7CPkcDMYh3ttzLP8rR0_f_7pTjU7zU/s1600/raul_0006_23056831331_o.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8vgtZK_-2C_1qWFEQ_V6sAHfatj5B4l4gDlPk8Iej-e_BqnXQj4kHy8IjvCd9T1VNMePIXBn3IntwO5k8bgeIgEpOKHkUYgArfqpC1SFjKija7CPkcDMYh3ttzLP8rR0_f_7pTjU7zU/s320/raul_0006_23056831331_o.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">New publishing concern Humming Bird Dreams Press launched Raul Gatica's poetry collection Broken Man (Hombre Roto) at Vancouver Public Liberry, Saturday November 14, 2015. A co-presentation Hummingbird and Spanish-language online magazine, Cencerro, the author and friends gathered to celebrate the new collection. Several speakers were on hand to sing the bi-lingual book's praises and to celebrate. Gatica, a Oaxacan political refugee and now exile, living in Vancouver since 2005, has remained a high profile activist for social justice and various causes. His activism in his native country led to 13 arrests, torture and the need to flee his homeland in fear for his life. Throughout the formal refugee process, Raul has continued to write, organize and speak out against oppression and tyranny.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The poems chronicle every aspect of a doomed relationship. A jagged sense of romance and the fallout of a love betrayed are the primary features of this literary litany of the Hombre Roto (the Broken Man). Raul read selected pieces from the book and after each I read the same poem in English. A lively Q and A followed the reading. If you like your love poems bloodied and your poets bruised and battered, Broken Man will speak to you.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXtny0eUdVp3tk_3xuwc79tydKp-yNhHzt4xFyQsVPCl0T1L0w7SmoogS_HswrYuzLcOEMlPJyv8ouQc6E-XSdQmcoYTTarIhHdIOSn61OG4OuiTrOMo-cH8ADK6NcBQ7O4FilqRJagg/s1600/raul_0008_22422878674_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKXtny0eUdVp3tk_3xuwc79tydKp-yNhHzt4xFyQsVPCl0T1L0w7SmoogS_HswrYuzLcOEMlPJyv8ouQc6E-XSdQmcoYTTarIhHdIOSn61OG4OuiTrOMo-cH8ADK6NcBQ7O4FilqRJagg/s320/raul_0008_22422878674_o.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8vgtZK_-2C_1qWFEQ_V6sAHfatj5B4l4gDlPk8Iej-e_BqnXQj4kHy8IjvCd9T1VNMePIXBn3IntwO5k8bgeIgEpOKHkUYgArfqpC1SFjKija7CPkcDMYh3ttzLP8rR0_f_7pTjU7zU/s1600/raul_0006_23056831331_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8vgtZK_-2C_1qWFEQ_V6sAHfatj5B4l4gDlPk8Iej-e_BqnXQj4kHy8IjvCd9T1VNMePIXBn3IntwO5k8bgeIgEpOKHkUYgArfqpC1SFjKija7CPkcDMYh3ttzLP8rR0_f_7pTjU7zU/s1600/raul_0006_23056831331_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8vgtZK_-2C_1qWFEQ_V6sAHfatj5B4l4gDlPk8Iej-e_BqnXQj4kHy8IjvCd9T1VNMePIXBn3IntwO5k8bgeIgEpOKHkUYgArfqpC1SFjKija7CPkcDMYh3ttzLP8rR0_f_7pTjU7zU/s1600/raul_0006_23056831331_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8vgtZK_-2C_1qWFEQ_V6sAHfatj5B4l4gDlPk8Iej-e_BqnXQj4kHy8IjvCd9T1VNMePIXBn3IntwO5k8bgeIgEpOKHkUYgArfqpC1SFjKija7CPkcDMYh3ttzLP8rR0_f_7pTjU7zU/s1600/raul_0006_23056831331_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">©</span>2015
Champsteen Publishing</i></div>
<br />Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-32056723558113414662015-03-23T01:53:00.004-04:002016-09-04T16:00:55.001-04:00Maybe it's about being there...(article)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/iPQMk7-O4-c/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iPQMk7-O4-c?feature=player_embedded" style="clear: left; float: left;" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i>"Long
and Wasted Years"</i></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><i> </i></b>
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>It's
been such a long, long time<br />
Since we loved each other and our hearts were true<br />
One time, for one brief day, I was the man for you<br />
<br />
Last night I heard you talking in your sleep<br />
Saying things you shouldn't say<br />
Oh baby, you just might have to go to jail someday<br />
<br />
Is there a place we can go?<br />
Is there anybody we can see?<br />
Maybe, it's the same for you as it is for me<br />
<br />
I ain't seen my family in twenty years<br />
That ain't easy to understand<br />
They may be dead by now<br />
I lost track of them after they lost their land<br />
<br />
Shake it up baby twist and shout<br />
You know what it's all about<br />
What are you doing out there in the sun anyway?<br />
Don't you know the sun can burn your brains right out?<br />
<br />
My enemy crashed into the dust<br />
Stopped dead in his tracks and he lost his lust<br />
He was run down hard and he broke apart<br />
He died in shame he had an iron heart<br />
<br />
I wear dark glasses to cover my eyes<br />
There are secrets in them I can't disguise<br />
Come back baby if I ever hurt your feelings I apologize<br />
<br />
Two trains running side by side<br />
Forty miles wide, down the eastern line<br />
You don't have to go<br />
I just came to you because your a friend of mine<br />
<br />
I think that when my back was turned<br />
The whole world behind me burned<br />
It's been awhile since we walked down that long, long aisle<br />
<br />
We cried on that cold and frosty morn<br />
We cried because our souls were torn<br />
So much for tears, so much for these long and wasted years </i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
_ _ _</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">For me, there is something to doing things out of posterity.
That is, documenting here (on the nebulous web) snippets of my life and my
times, simply for sake of the future. It may be important to none other than me
but in that it seems very important.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In conversation people who know me understand the importance
of music, poetry, art in general and Bob Dylan specifically. It’s merely a
perspective but I do believe that Bob Dylan is the Shakespeare of our time and
will be immortalized through his recorded work. I challenge anyone to give me
the name of someone, anyone born in the in 1560’s…Go ahead…</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">See?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It’s challenging to make a mark in our own time, our own
LIFE. But to have the grace to have been the creator, maker, author of so much
creative material astounds. As one who has tried his hand at poetry, prose,
music and lyric making I am simply amazed at the notion of the volume of
material coming from a single source, a single person. I think we are
conditioned to think it’s easy. Turn on the radio and you are inundated with
songs, hits, chart-toppers. But how many of these are one-hit wonders? How many
will last - how many aren’t simply frivolous articles of fashion? A 50 year recording career, a novel, a biography, at least 3 films, several books of drawings, exhibitions of his paintings all over the world, art installations and a never-ending tour beginning in 1988 that has seen him tour every year since. To say that is creative output is prolific and varied is well below understating it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On this blog I’ve
conceded to the notions of taste and preference and I will do so again – for some,
Dylan’s voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard, but I love the sound of his
weathered and distinctive wail. However, as with Shakespeare, I believe posterity
will have the final word. Not only did people in his time appreciate the Bard’s
(Shakespeare's) work, but as time went on more and more did also. This I believe will be the
case with Bob Dylan. There will always be an audience of admirer’s of exhibitions Picasso’s
paintings and drawings. In any given city there will always several productions
of Shakespeare’s dramatic work under way. And I believe there will always be an
audience of listeners and musicians to appreciate Dylan’s songs and recording artists continuing to include their versions of his songs on their records. Sure, a person
can have a hit. Some have several. Some have greatest hits packages one and
two. But no recording artist of our time is as universally covered as Bob
Dylan. This means that among his fellow craftsmen and women he is more revered
than anybody. Imitation is the purest form of flattery it’s been said. The
people who write and record songs themselves consistently dip into the well
created by Dylan. I won’t delve into the cultural significance of the artist here
because I believe that to be of less import than his truest legacy - an immense
body of songs of depth and power.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So it was that last October I waffled though I knew Uncle
Bob was playing 3 consecutive nights in Seattle WA., a 3 hour’s drive across
the border and south. Could my finances bear it? Who could go with me on such
short notice? Were tickets yet available? And now several months later I am
so glad I seized upon what may be the last chance I’ll have to see him in
concert though I said the same thing in Oct 2001, when the lights went down at
the start of his show then, when he was a sprite 61 years old.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am including his performance and the lyrics to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lost and Wasted Years</i> from TEMPEST, his
most recent album of original songs. It’s a wonderful thing that in his 70's he is
still composing original songs of startling lyrical intensity and still traversing the
world modestly to perform night after night like an old bluesman, like a troubadour.
What else was Bob Dylan put here on earth to do? And unlike Shakespeare or Picasso, I got to be in the same room with Bob Dylan several times over the years as he did his thing. There'll never be the likes of him again.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">©2015 </span>Champsteen
Publishing</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-79647632008842562632013-10-22T03:54:00.002-04:002013-10-22T04:23:35.020-04:00What's In A Name? - Hip No More or The Tragically Idle (editorial)...<i>* what's a blog for if not to get a few things off one's chest and as I've always said: you'll never please everyone - I've also come to embrace my contrary nature, as I've also often said: if everybody's doing something it can't be that good - this is more of a flippant generalization but seems unfortunately to hold true often enough from the lens through which I view the world. </i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2_pK0dXXUqG4Uqi5hB6vrm_w7Snu5TPFfeMUd_7VxiOiHCn8CtL4Nw-AP4dlwxQVAsvABFlMN0NOtnxxrm5J1c1_v5CD-Seka61rgb6i98BWopWJin2LZWYRidgFU0hib2bBxefsvRQ/s1600/downie+blog+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA2_pK0dXXUqG4Uqi5hB6vrm_w7Snu5TPFfeMUd_7VxiOiHCn8CtL4Nw-AP4dlwxQVAsvABFlMN0NOtnxxrm5J1c1_v5CD-Seka61rgb6i98BWopWJin2LZWYRidgFU0hib2bBxefsvRQ/s400/downie+blog+final.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The Tragically Hip? Great band, terrible name. I'd bet my left one they (the guys in the band, that is) feel the same way. There are those of us who could never figure out why they could never crack the American market, but with a novelty name that seems to go for the ironic, detached aloofness the guys are well-known for, I remember early interviews with Gord Downie (see, me and my pals saw them at a hotel club in Calgary way back when they were a mostly cover band and we had gone because of the ironic name, they had to be a novelty act) after a couple records when taking the world by storm seemed imminent and he would decry the fact that, at that point, playing in the US always meant a loud and demonstrably proud contingent of Canadians seemed to follow their every move. He was already by that point clearly less than enthralled by such solid support from fellow Canadians, he seemed in fact to take it for granted that, critically speaking, Canadians were blindly cheering fellow citizens rather than responding in the affirmative to what they might be regarding as good music. Well, all these years later, and The Tragically Hip could easily sellout multiple dates at every fifteen thousand seat arena in every major city in Canada (all 10 or so of em) yet they have failed to garner a notable following in the US market outside of Detroit/Winsdor, a single American city that geographically is actually located north of Windsor Ontario by strange circumstance and Hip shows are comprised mainly of Canadians. Everywhere else in the states, the Hip play small clubs the size of The Commodore ballroom or smaller. But it's hard to market a glib-sounding name like The Tragically Hip, what does a name like that do to your imagination? And, let's face it, Downie's stream-of-conscienceness, likely, meaning little-or-nothing lyrics are hard to find real meaning in. Yeah, I know, patriotic hosers at this point will defend their heroes as representative of pure Canadiana, that is, lyrical content full of references to Hugh Maclenan, hockey, hockey players and various if obscure Canadian geography (I'm sure Bobcaygeon Ontario is prepared to name a street after them if they haven't done so already) - but the references are vague and if people want to write university papers on Hip songs citing their relevance and importance, be my guest, but I'll bet my right one, Uni professors won't be as open-minded on the subject - don't get me wrong, some of their songs are timeless, original and they have a vibe full of ominous character and vitality - and they rock!. If they haven't by now, it seems less than likely that The Hip (as they probably wish they were called) will break ever internationally or have any notable following outside Canada. It is tragically so.<br />
<br />
Now, the one that's going to have people all across Indian country PO'd - Idle No More? Great time in history for a movement, absolutely terrible name for one...Idle No More is poor choice of name for any kind of active political or cultural movement (or this one in particular). It's because, without subtext, the phrase Idle No More implies so many negative ideas and notions and seems to validate so many ill-formed and preconceived conclusions about Native people already at work in the mainstream consciousness. If I didn't know that the movement's name came about because a few individuals spontaneously called their message thread Idle No More on the Internet, I'd almost think it was created by non-native media manipulators with an agenda. First off, the name implies (that means: seems to mean) that Native people have been idle (not-active) until this point in history. The mainstream mindset believes this about native people anyways and it is the rhetorical argument you always have thrown out in any discussion with someone who's mind is already made up and is completely unwilling to consider any historical background, circumstances or cause and effect scenarios. In my mind countless Native people have been working their asses off lo these many years (and generations) to defend, educate, protest and ensure that there is ANYTHING left of Indian people, culture, history and that there is even a need to not be idle any longer as the name seems to imply. The idea that in 2012-13, Native are perhaps, for the first time, somehow, coming to an awareness that things are not fair and injustice is manifest must come as a surprise or a symbolic slap in the face to the families of George Manuel, Vera Kirkness, Elijah Harper, Big Bear, Jeanette Armstrong, Harold Cardinal, Alanis Obamsawin, John Trudell, Winona Laduke, Vine Deloria, Anna Mae Aquash, Luthee Standing Bear, Louis Riel and so many others. For anyone not to acknowledge the tireless commitment to their own and all Native people by so many before our time is ignorance pure and simple and disrespectful. <br />
<br />
That the current groundswell (though, it's debatable whether at the time of this writing the movement is already a spent force) seem to believe they invented activism is not surprising. Every generation seems to believe they invented indignation, seems to think they are the first to experience inequity, injustice, intolerance or any other socially negative experience or circumstance. Idle-No-More in my neck of the woods seemed to represent more of an opportunity to see and be seen rather than a hot bed of ideas around organizing and political or grassroots strategies. The idea that Native people are generally waking up for the first time to racist, exploitive and inhumane policy is simply not true. And one also need consider the men and women all across the land who today educate, organize, heal, nurture and demonstrate either within their own sphere of influence or in some larger communal capacity or those who simply live exemplary, dignified lives and work hard each day to do so. <br />
<br />
It is always a good thing to get lots of Indians together so in this regard I love what Idle-No-More represents - but mostly, I believe, there are tons and tons of Native people out there who have <i>NEVER BEEN IDLE</i>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">© 2013 Champsteen Publishing</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-51574930636995710022013-10-22T02:07:00.002-04:002014-04-07T02:57:59.031-04:00Sir Paul in Seattle...The age old question: The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?...you can't be both (you can't) and my soul was won over by the swagger, menace and sheer defiance of The Stones a long time ago. But one cannot argue with the immense cultural significance that the four lads from Liverpool had on contemporary society and culture as we know it. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwUGNFXLEcDDJ1erR8k_IdI8yTUu32xhD7hPQm6Y-FyWM5orvPx3WhjotGzExQGVxjPNKeMOxCCL4hlITRqKQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br />
I have only ever owned a single Beatles record, have never owned a Wings record and though I did have tickets to his show in Rotterdam in '89 (didn't go, thought the fall of the Berlin Wall happening the same time as McCartney's show in Holland would be more of an event...it was!), I had never given much thought to attending a Paul McCartney show all these years. But the chance to see him in Seattle this past summer presented itself and knowing that the man is 71 years old, I knew there wouldn't be too many more opportunities and I went. A warm Friday night in July, me and my baby, an enthusiastic crowd, about 40 songs and the chance to actually hear the man who wrote some of the most familiar and popular songs of our time, sing them - Yesterday, Hey Jude, Eleanor Rigby, Get Back, Back In The USSR. I did see Ringo Starr perform many years ago and it was sublime but McCartney is surely one of the most influential, prolific and popular song-writers in human history and just the chance to be there was sublime. As usual, the philosophy frequently stated on this blog...it's about being there.<br />
<br />
<br />
© 2013 Champsteen PublishingLarry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-29053538529302826282013-06-28T21:35:00.001-04:002014-04-07T03:10:10.092-04:00What Matters (audio poem)...<h1>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b> What Matters</b></span></h1>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzYuS6hmpmGagLE3cdHmIuUw2FHdObGtx5xcTDpAO4VRDsPcENk1IpQvpqMoRV4AdTqpqw7WU00Xvqca-IFAg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
music: <i>Spiegle Im Spiegle</i> by Arvo P<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">ä</span>rt</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:TargetScreenSize>800x600</o:TargetScreenSize>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-CA</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">on
a lawn</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">we
sit across from one another</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">in
conversation</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">veiled
by circumstance</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">the
scent</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">of
fresh-cut grass and your skin</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">rid
the well of tedium</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">and
half-truths </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">as behind you</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">a summer moon</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">arcs it’s way</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">to a distant tomorrow</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">in
these moments</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">i
am struck by the essentials</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">it’s
not the thought</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">of
the small of your back</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">though
it does confound me</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">nor is it the delicate
steel</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">in your gaze</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">where</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">when it’s true</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">i feel strong</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">it
isn’t the memory of your body</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">rising
at the hint of my breath</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">it can’t merely be</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">the silhouette of your
bareness</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">during nights with you</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">in soft light</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">though, at times,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">it is</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">no</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">what
matters</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">are
the lines in your face</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">which
speak of things</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">you
can and cannot say</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">it is that you
understand</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">losing everything</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">still means</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">you can always lose a
little more</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">it
is the fresh wind of your voice</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">which
blows through my hands</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">mostly,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">it
is that</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">although
we are born here</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">and
we’ll die here,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">you still feel</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">the sweet ache of
things</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">we’ve never wanted</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">so badly</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
</style>
<![endif]-->
</div>
<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
</style>
<![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>© 2013 Champsteen Publishing</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108pt; text-align: left;">
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
</style>
<![endif]--><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<br />Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-7166720764692805072013-02-24T07:41:00.000-05:002014-04-07T03:17:46.051-04:00Elegy by A Cree Sojourner (poem)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5cQ68PePu7s?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<br />
I am not afraid of being poor, being homeless…I’ve done
that…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not afraid of breaking ribs (twice), my neck, my ankle,
my skull…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
been there done that…and feeling much better now</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not afraid of having a gun pointed at me (3 times)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
cause only one ever actually pulled the trigger…and he missed</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not afraid of my mother going away, or my father or all
my grandparents…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for those things happened a long time ago</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I cannot say if in his lifetime, my father ever knew freedom </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
but in mine…he is free</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It could be true that like history, it is by now
well-established </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
that I am, as they say: an open book</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and thankfully subject to revision</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">brother can you spare
a dime?</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hey man, change comes
from within!</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no longer fear of a broken heart or abandoned love</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know what those things are</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I confess to the mercenary intentions</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
of having her soft lips on mine</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
there, I said it</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
what am I but one among this rogue species</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
like the mountains I have been shaped by time</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in fact, I am here because of those long-gone, graceful ones</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
who somehow walk beside me still</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in memory, in spirit</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
guiding me safely</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
through the no man’s land of my own good intentions,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to yet more meaningful ways of being</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
helping locate a measure of grace</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
during damp arthritic coastal mornings</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
learning to care for this temple bruised and battered
through 43 winters,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
grasping that there are surely now more sunsets</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in the rear-view mirror than lie before me…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(but you never know)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
yes, their presence comforts me</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
as I experience these fearsome markers of time</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
most days I have transcended my ancient wounds</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
free of that kind of pain</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
though the psychic tissue of scars will always remain,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
just out of sight</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
clung to and kept in my own place of sacred things</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
summoned when needed to inform, to illuminate,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to be together during your own long dark night of the soul</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for why else are we here?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and I stand shoulder to shoulder with front<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>-</i></span>line helpers and
healers</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
who do the heavy lifting, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
who understand that we will only heal together or die one by
one</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
alone as individuals</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
as a man of the plains it is ironic that I am once again at
the frontier</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
only this time at the borderline of the imagination </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
standing opposed to ones who elevate human constructs above
the natural world</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
people unable or unwilling to understand</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
that the way you think about something changes the way it
works –</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I oppose worshipers at the altar of the holy market</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
with their inflationary interest in histories’ latest empire</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
they seem induced by some archaic voice stranded in time</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
a voice spouting authoritative versions of events</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
tenure-tracked versions of events</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
second-hand, borrowed and stolen knowledge </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
with concerns somehow vested</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in salacious accounts of quote-unquote history</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
ideas are the currency in my trade</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in this most crucial reclamation project</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for some reason</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the challenge seems to be to respect the ancestors and
celebrate the living</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
do you see that it is the very rugged and elemental nature
of this hard land</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
that makes the Indian heart and spirit so pliable?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s tough love from our first mother</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have no illusions of permanence and little time for
regret,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
despair is a sin against the imagination in places like this</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
my destiny is no longer shaped by others without shame</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
or without reverence for the things I am…I am the elements…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
my life is a subterranean call, no – it is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">demand </i>for justice</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am not…but the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">way</i>? -</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">way</i> is
righteous</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">truth</i> is
righteous</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
even in the city</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know places where can I sit alone among stones polished by
mild-mannered rain</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can always locate a vantage point to watch the crows</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and be moved by their nightly, spectral pilgrimage</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
through the great nation that is the sky</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
even in the city</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I hear creator</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in my daughter tapping keys on a piano in the next room</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
there are stations, thresholds and bridges </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
constructed by others before me that I cross</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to arrive in places I could not possibly have gotten to on
my own</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I keep frequent company with other ways of thinking</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
road men and matriarchs who have all walked the long road</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
when necessary developed other modes of orienting themselves
in</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
social and spiritual space</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I seek counsel with those happily immersed in old-growth
forests of the mind</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
who may yet teach me other ways</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
of interacting at all times with the earth itself </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am touched by these warriors of the heart and road</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in this company there is space for you</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in this company may you find watershed thoughts</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
of the sacred heart of the world –</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
come know what love is really like</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and dream of worlds to come</div>
<br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">© 2013 Champsteen
Publishing</i>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-85148483656692245932012-11-10T05:24:00.000-05:002012-11-10T22:27:56.545-05:00Alanis Obomsawin: The Real Deal<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if !mso]><img src="//img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" />
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGASwd5oz52NNSenIOiFxVO_Lt74k39L_jZqHwkJ-av6Q3avTmwVp9B9TjLETuP2nMUqDE17_4ZOzNXJYBEIAcWu4X5zE1C1DNld9qLMYlhFwDqUcV1fx2h7WVBBHye6XPzwr5ASu7IR0/s1600/alanis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGASwd5oz52NNSenIOiFxVO_Lt74k39L_jZqHwkJ-av6Q3avTmwVp9B9TjLETuP2nMUqDE17_4ZOzNXJYBEIAcWu4X5zE1C1DNld9qLMYlhFwDqUcV1fx2h7WVBBHye6XPzwr5ASu7IR0/s320/alanis.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L to R, The Champ, Alanis Obomsawin, Storm Standing-On-The-Road</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Serendipity is a wondrous thing and it brought Storm and me to
the chance to spend time with 2 Aboriginal women filmmakers of immense talent this evening. This week W2 is hosting the 2<sup>nd</sup> annual Vancouver
Indigenous Media Arts Festival…I actually called in sick this morning with a
stupendous head cold but when I discovered through social media that Abenaki filmmaker
Alanis Obomsawin would attend screening of her latest NFB documentary, <i>The
People of the Kattawapiskak River</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">,</span>
I knew I would be there. But the added bonus was that the double feature
included Ojibway director Darlene Naponse’s feature <i>Every Emotion Costs</i>.
Darlene, it just so happens, is related to Storm (through her mama, again) and she
and I were fellow artsy, writerly-type students at Okanagan artist Jeanette
Armstrong’s beloved En’owkin Center at Penticton for 2 years and we are old
pals you might say. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Plenty of times on this blog I’ve given high praise to the creative
types or various others but I can’t think of anyone more deserving of accolades
than Obomsawin. I’ve always felt this way about her ever since I first viewed
her ’93 doc <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance
</b>which chronicles the 1990 Oka Crisis. Oka was of course
a defining moment in history for Indians like me – Oka changed
everything. And I am not the only one. The elegant and gracious director is now
80 years old (amazing) and I hounded Storm all day to commit to coming with me
to the screening. The film was, as usual, powerful and heartfelt and I recommend
any of her 30 films all based on subjects having to do with Native People and
the majority of which have been produced by the National Film Board. This woman
holds several honorary doctorates; a Governor General’s Award and is an Officer
of the Order of Canada.
She is supremely dedicated and so clearly loves our people that I never miss a
chance to hear her speak. She is the real deal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLklBxfEgNy0zpx7j_qKrwZv1KqUoe0UChuMEQq014zZCJ_9vZrxUJ8jyDWyoH_GilvjSfTyvYUYFG5sw9LYXnLDIgHORuYsMvUhZPyBM58aKNnqCoa7ElPz5Q7_M-EGCrVDPsapu-EM/s1600/naponse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLklBxfEgNy0zpx7j_qKrwZv1KqUoe0UChuMEQq014zZCJ_9vZrxUJ8jyDWyoH_GilvjSfTyvYUYFG5sw9LYXnLDIgHORuYsMvUhZPyBM58aKNnqCoa7ElPz5Q7_M-EGCrVDPsapu-EM/s320/naponse.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L to R, The Champ, Storm, (film maker) Suzi Bekkattla, (Director) Darlene Naponse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Naponse’s film is an emotionally charged piece on grief,
healing and the complexity of relationships. Her film is lush and visually
crafted on a script she wrote and produced (all while holding down a
band-council position) at Whitefish Lake
1<sup>st</sup> Nation, Ontario
where it was shot (it was a trip whispering to Storm during the film: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hey, that’s your relative on the left of the
screen</i>). Back in the day, Darlene was always shooting and writing, shooting
and writing and you just knew she possessed the determination to go wherever it
was she intended. I am so proud of and for her. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ironic and lucky for me that I should wake this morning discouraged
that my previously oncoming sniffles had become a full-on ragin’ sneeze orgy,
only to be now hitting the sack fed and fortified by the healing power of art…and
great company.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
© 2012 Champsteen Publishing.</div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-58446940110222515052012-11-06T03:15:00.000-05:002012-11-06T09:44:17.078-05:00That's (Real) Showbiz...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvmIyCjRFMxnFz-xxwXKG8mC_Zpgs_owtpUsiG744eZJm2zTc0PjRXvngJrGKSBJ_7MkUb2VXl80TybXnzHDonhresAXrXmQSEbQfTiMO1rz1OSC7ior3APQcpGBgUIEk8lQhEXTzWwg/s1600/smoke-signals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvmIyCjRFMxnFz-xxwXKG8mC_Zpgs_owtpUsiG744eZJm2zTc0PjRXvngJrGKSBJ_7MkUb2VXl80TybXnzHDonhresAXrXmQSEbQfTiMO1rz1OSC7ior3APQcpGBgUIEk8lQhEXTzWwg/s320/smoke-signals.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Recently, I produced a list of 10 fillems that I insist my daughter Storm see at some point in the next year or so. Note that I refer to these as fillems, not movies. Movies are something different and not important (something full of explosions, CGIs or lame jokes and usually very predictable and not much fun) . I look at it a something of a rite of passage and a way of educating her to some works of celluloid art that have left an indelible mark on me. Late this past summer we viewed The Shining together (was that wrong? – <i>REDRUM</i>!?), which she claimed to enjoy. Last week came a rare and thrilling opportunity to not only watch <b>Smoke Signals</b> together, but also to be among the audience for an interview following the screening with Evan Adams by Duncan McCue. Coast Salish actor Adams, of course played the now-iconic role of Thomas Builds-The Fire (<i>Hey, Victor!</i>) and McCue (Anishnabe) is a nationally re-known CBC television news journalist. The film is based upon characters and stories found in the short story collection, Tonto and the Lone Ranger Fist-Fight In Heaven by Coeur d'Alene writer, Sherman Alexie (another gem and among my favorite literary achievements). For someone like me it was a beautiful opportunity to have Storm experience the power and beauty of a fillem that speaks to the soul and never fails to get me…<i>right here!</i> But it was also a chance for Storm to see demonstrated (more importantly) the generosity of spirit and an authentic exchange of ideas that are the true means to empowerment and community-building.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJF2JQLJzEFkaMYjcbPl_qxTDXWJGrjjj3OLrOmpkOwamdYq2MzMhHKye20xzc2er1dJiW6oRlFzfCyM2fll3P9L5Nvd9Lu5bRQbBLthsahwREKib6bAE5yNglI3VASvSxlHaKpj_LgQw/s1600/the+gang+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJF2JQLJzEFkaMYjcbPl_qxTDXWJGrjjj3OLrOmpkOwamdYq2MzMhHKye20xzc2er1dJiW6oRlFzfCyM2fll3P9L5Nvd9Lu5bRQbBLthsahwREKib6bAE5yNglI3VASvSxlHaKpj_LgQw/s320/the+gang+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L to R, Evan Adams, Duncan McCue, Storm Standing-On-The-Road and Loretta Todd</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
SFU Downtown Campus served as venue and was moderated by (Metis/Cree) film-maker Loretta Todd. My daughter is old pals (through her mother) with McCue and Todd and it was so much fun to listen to the discussion ostensibly on humor and healing but which managed to be full of hilarious insights and poignant reflection by both actor and interviewer. It was also a chance to experience the finest talent in Indian country in a relaxed and intimate setting. Throughout this blog, one of the themes I’ve consistently tried to explore is creativity. Now, obviously the participants mentioned all bear a high profile but what was most evident this night was the natural grace and humility of all involved. This aspect also has found its way frequently into the articles I’ve posted and I believe is a feature, quality or trait found in many, many of the successful persons of profile in the 1st Nations community. It has been my experience over and over again, through the years that typically, a well-known person or someone we may identify as successful is generally down to earth and very approachable. I love this about our people.
<br />
<br />
Beyond this, Smoke Signals itself is a fillem that is exceptionally moving and utterly guileless in its charm. This means that it’s nearly perfect in its modest (though exquisite) execution and could not have been improved upon with more millions in its production budget or alternate casting choices. It’s a fillem that is tough, tender and whimsical and as I mentioned before, profound. Like all pieces of true art, it remains, timeless.<br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
© 2012 Champsteen Publishing <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-42504199250398516272012-07-08T15:19:00.009-04:002012-07-08T15:56:17.223-04:00...A Good Journey...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzk_EB6ag5mdutgdUZePN-0FKg5PnwY17d7TxxX0EKeGgHxkc1CupVDBfgObKFruYpMKv2ZY80m83Oo9AlYWRkDdZu76eZhFTMruA4MkoZqsYZeTPI76wA9oFHtcCC1jKBZRDuHjxpY4/s1600/rose.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzk_EB6ag5mdutgdUZePN-0FKg5PnwY17d7TxxX0EKeGgHxkc1CupVDBfgObKFruYpMKv2ZY80m83Oo9AlYWRkDdZu76eZhFTMruA4MkoZqsYZeTPI76wA9oFHtcCC1jKBZRDuHjxpY4/s320/rose.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5762881331499571890" /></a><br /><br />On the way home from the movies the other night I asked my bro if he was up for going down to the water to drop tobacco and pray. We had learned earlier in the evening of the passing of Rose Point and decided to go see a light-hearted fillem to perhaps take our minds off the news. He agreed to stop by his place allowing me to fetch the medicine I had stashed there and we proceeded to make our way to the ocean-side despite the late hour and persistent rain. It felt important to pray and make modest ceremony to honor the late and beloved elder. A tireless advocate for educating our people in all ways you could think of (not merely the formal education one may think of first). At the prayer/memorial Thursday evening down in Musqueam it became apparent how formidable she was and how easy it may have been to underestimate this tiny bundle of beautiful energy. As was frequently mentioned, Rose was EVERYWHERE. Every event for every conceivable reason, political or artistic, and everything in between, she was always there and as anyone who knows what a hike it was just get out of Musqueam, a certain type of determination was implicit in everything Rose did. <br /><br />I carry my own special experience because I lived next door to the elder at Musqueam reserve for a couple years (renting a room from her son) and was able to spend many hours with her in her home. She learned how to cook Chinese food in a class and was proud of this skill and it did not take much convincing to get her to whip us up some good vittles, it was a source of well-earned pride. It just never occurred to me coming out to the coast, me, - a plains Cree man being served gourmet Chinese dishes from this sweet little old Coast Salish Lady. But I will cherish most our long talks about her life. Ours was a very easy-going and informal relationship and I dare-say I was given special insight into some of her most intimate and profound personal views. Our exchange was of a sort that this week, though I went down to Musqueam to pay respects and support the family, I find myself glad for Rose because she knew some things and someone were waiting for her in the next part of the journey. I will miss her but I cannot think of loss, or any connotations of that sort. I am simply in a place of gratitude because she worked so hard, touched so many and I got to know her a little bit. If each of us did a fraction of what Rose did in her lifetime, what a world it would be. What a world it is to be able to experience such people.<br /><br />A good journey, Rose, and thanks.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">© 2012 Champsteen Publishing</span>Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-42858612933580154502012-06-26T09:52:00.014-04:002012-06-26T11:17:39.726-04:00International Indigenous Leadership Gathering...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXj4U9VWzqpWqZQ7YEyfIklSHAb5JWozGCI0G0g38LBjUYB3nB-Oi_EsM0xtsp_hYBi29WNIZlFqFb3DoB3iKGkY0RcpQ1EJDaLR-McA2FTeBuGMlRCFKM4Xge5szbkqFzk7eFJsPG9Y/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 462px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXj4U9VWzqpWqZQ7YEyfIklSHAb5JWozGCI0G0g38LBjUYB3nB-Oi_EsM0xtsp_hYBi29WNIZlFqFb3DoB3iKGkY0RcpQ1EJDaLR-McA2FTeBuGMlRCFKM4Xge5szbkqFzk7eFJsPG9Y/s320/IMG_0390.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5758346871101197602" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <h4><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">The 4th International Indigenous Leadership Gathering (June 21-24) went down this weekend and it was amazing. Overseen by the St’át’imc Chiefs’ Council in their un-ceded territory (at </span><span style="font-weight:normal; mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Lillooet</span><span style="font-weight: normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">, </span><span style="font-weight: normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">BC</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">) and once again fronted by Darrell Bob, it was once again proved that a powerful, grand-scale, traditional event can come off beautifully if people take ownership of their intentions and actions. I attended for the second the year in a row to camp, take part in ceremony and hear the words of (mainly indigenous) leaders and speakers from all parts of the globe. Each day saw speakers from all over the world address the crowd on various global and local issues that affect not only indigenous but all people and the earth - the "first mother". Great speakers, some of them, and you'd have trouble sitting still when so stirred by meaningful words - truly medicine for the heart and mind. The St’át’imc people hosted but everyone attending pitched in to work the kitchen, serve and clean up the 3 meals a day that were provided for all attendees at no cost to anyone…It was touching at the closing ceremony when Mr. Bob commented: <span style="font-style:italic;">if anyone went hungry, then I failed at my job</span>…of course no one went hungry and you are left with admiration and honor for the commitment displayed by the St’át’imc people to get the word out and make people feel welcome and like family, they are skillful but sincere – very, very accomplished people. One simply had to be at any one the gatherings to fully appreciate what an undertaking it is to host and feed a few thousand people from all over the world. Keep in mind the logistics involved regarding space to for everyone camp, clean water, family safety and enough food for everyone. There were sweats, prayer vigils and drum circles constant drum circles everywhere, a few scruffy hippies, a few dippy new-agers (always will be when Indians are involved) but all-in-all mainly everyone’s heart was in the right place.</span></span></h4><p><br /></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOU-8D9xxdG5BKsNxtTkUDRHNwheOjxvUoF97TrIVaryQ1X0cdI09Kt8yngKTRSV5go31oacojXZj7ME4gQEFMIVyoZ-2mGrAtgKHZ7kQ1Y4pJU3LOqzCNyBx_s4Bkh3lb4yuYkXq1dE/s1600/IMG_0396.JPG"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidATcZOJ72SLpp3RmOKrioTtrWrejtab_6zCABeQJIlATNqQelLZgdvrPWx1iObydTnYuWrM_-qV8xHKsyloHhxaEn4mdGKh2-wu-XeeFDCnLtVn98qBcimUoK6sHu-LlTuo1VzVpLOxM/s1600/IMG_0404.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidATcZOJ72SLpp3RmOKrioTtrWrejtab_6zCABeQJIlATNqQelLZgdvrPWx1iObydTnYuWrM_-qV8xHKsyloHhxaEn4mdGKh2-wu-XeeFDCnLtVn98qBcimUoK6sHu-LlTuo1VzVpLOxM/s320/IMG_0404.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5758359368725474994" border="0" /></a>I brought out my hand drum during the closing gratitude ceremony to drum alongside, Peruvian, Nigerian and Asian drummers…a buzz! As with any outdoor event the weather was a factor and after nearly freezing my schnitzel off last year, I was better prepared and this year the main concern was rain. Mostly the weather was fair with inter-mitten rain but Saturday night a mighty rain storm appeared in the south valley, the direction the weather arrives from and you could this was going to be a doozy. At dusk the ominous dark and swirling clouds appeared and you could see sheets of rain looming. In mere minutes, swollen drops turned into torrential rain chasing most into tents, trailers or whatever cover they could secure (for me it was into the safety of my buddies’ Honda). As I sat in the vehicle listening to the rain pelting the car and watching as it fell almost sideways outside I was struck by the fact that the drum group made mainly of boys from East Van did not surrender to the weather. In fact, the drum group and a few dozen die-hards remained steadfast in their determination to celebrate the drum…and life. They danced, though drenched to the bone, and the drummers paused long enough between songs to drink some water and soothe their throats for a minute or two only to pound away once more at songs which repeated verse after verse giving dancers songs to live by. This is special shout out to the drummers and singers (some ladies, too) of East Van and the rain-dancers who exemplified the spirit of what the event seems to be about.<br /><br />See you next year. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">© 2012 Champsteen Publishing</span>Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-52340133139042002672012-06-20T12:35:00.017-04:002013-06-23T13:15:32.518-04:00...It's called progress...(I guess)...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfjbW1x9pzl272kShM6vu4BYDW6bjVnr1-WdFUxBu9b1qunzdYYdAqLu2Pls2LhiVtELfM6OH9trKehXoF3qa6SqasFzg1XsqlrF19VckJb52wx1_THUfZHk5w7XWcoj820tnGFM-dDI/s1600/skyline+1.JPG"><img a="" border="0" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhNzkzQJsYAdjkQcAS191LJj9UziEzeThjU0ITAFOcsv3nweCj3xlCEGdn9dv54S2wj6YgQzJpVWxtt7f1iebc1uOJz6-CkBo-Nbjf3kys_QCjqaGwmDQzX8b0T-TYYYTOecs4WHC5ek/s1600/skyline+3.JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfjbW1x9pzl272kShM6vu4BYDW6bjVnr1-WdFUxBu9b1qunzdYYdAqLu2Pls2LhiVtELfM6OH9trKehXoF3qa6SqasFzg1XsqlrF19VckJb52wx1_THUfZHk5w7XWcoj820tnGFM-dDI/s200/skyline+1.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 259px; width: 358px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">the view when I first moved into my groovy<br />little pad...(and my original Blog page pic)</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfjbW1x9pzl272kShM6vu4BYDW6bjVnr1-WdFUxBu9b1qunzdYYdAqLu2Pls2LhiVtELfM6OH9trKehXoF3qa6SqasFzg1XsqlrF19VckJb52wx1_THUfZHk5w7XWcoj820tnGFM-dDI/s1600/skyline+1.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5756179813871890114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhNzkzQJsYAdjkQcAS191LJj9UziEzeThjU0ITAFOcsv3nweCj3xlCEGdn9dv54S2wj6YgQzJpVWxtt7f1iebc1uOJz6-CkBo-Nbjf3kys_QCjqaGwmDQzX8b0T-TYYYTOecs4WHC5ek/s200/skyline+3.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 274px; width: 356px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">once a community garden...</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVkNztmt7aaiwRbg2kbVs6uuicRU_-Yfe64kW_YNjqKXuqzB4hMWpD9BpBfDaGXMyqVRq4lDHjdz8yQdiInuWdwsWcIthkNCujEY-N5etPpiMMxKitloNx4yAfmxSTOxeVgXGYtkiNC8/s1600/skyline+2.JPG"><img a="" border="0" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwP7MEBU1BJ1zbxae1z_WwneQQ8zYl-rQSvQgkh9HG9aYU1gdMh5Ha_Ny5o3OUDo0TwGJqHOKt57hU1GXNO_VFxZb7JhAclC4FrDKpdf-LWPEqyxd_hyYqUUloRFzPbicRcMl0QbdjgE/s1600/skyline+4.JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVkNztmt7aaiwRbg2kbVs6uuicRU_-Yfe64kW_YNjqKXuqzB4hMWpD9BpBfDaGXMyqVRq4lDHjdz8yQdiInuWdwsWcIthkNCujEY-N5etPpiMMxKitloNx4yAfmxSTOxeVgXGYtkiNC8/s200/skyline+2.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 242px; width: 354px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">when i first moved in, an empty lot (and the garden)<br />and the amazing western exposure...construction<br />had begun by this point (clearly)...</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVkNztmt7aaiwRbg2kbVs6uuicRU_-Yfe64kW_YNjqKXuqzB4hMWpD9BpBfDaGXMyqVRq4lDHjdz8yQdiInuWdwsWcIthkNCujEY-N5etPpiMMxKitloNx4yAfmxSTOxeVgXGYtkiNC8/s1600/skyline+2.JPG"><img border="0" br="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwP7MEBU1BJ1zbxae1z_WwneQQ8zYl-rQSvQgkh9HG9aYU1gdMh5Ha_Ny5o3OUDo0TwGJqHOKt57hU1GXNO_VFxZb7JhAclC4FrDKpdf-LWPEqyxd_hyYqUUloRFzPbicRcMl0QbdjgE/s200/skyline+4.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; height: 217px; width: 357px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">the same view this morning, 1 building<br />(out of frame, right) completed and this one<br />to be 30-some stories...<br /><br />...it's been great, though, at this spot...moving July 1st...EVERYTHING changes, I guess</span><span style="font-size: 100%;">... </span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 100%;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: ";">© 2012 Champsteen Publishing</span></i></span></div>
Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-34684708143545226212012-06-10T12:17:00.017-04:002012-06-19T02:39:48.287-04:00(Magpie) Language of the HeartI constructed this poem sometime in 1998 or 99 and at that time had been aware of my brother’s contracting the HIV virus for (just under) 10 years – he’d been living with it years longer. I tried to workshop it in a UBC creative writing class right after I wrote it because I liked it but I could never get through it.<br /><br />My brother Kelly was called Magpie because he was brash, loud, occasionally a pest…and beautiful. He and I spent time together in the same foster home as very small children and I remember us constantly running away and every time (for some reason) taking off our shoes and socks (which always made them SO mad, lol). We were split up for this and I was not to see him again until we were grown men by which time he had become ill.<br /><br />It would be a lie to say we got along well all the time though we did have our moments. On rare occasions we sat up all night drinking at the rez and regaled each other with our exploits and daring adventures. The other end of our experiential equation is that for subtle and deep reasons we could almost never seem so get along. I was needful but not in the same way as when we were children and he clearly had basic needs of a kind we intuitively understood could not be met. On some level, I believe we were resentful towards each other for apparently leaving the other way back when (which of course is ridiculous), while at the same time angry at ourselves for feeling powerless to help someone (your own brother) so clearly in need of help. This kind of anger, frustration and unresolved feelings of futility are so prevalent in our community that it can make people lash out at whoever is near. My brother and I fought at a house party on the rez (which I had invited him to as a means of reconciliation). I came away from that encounter with a broken ankle and today I wear the incident as a badge of honor in some circles, and in others, it provides clear evidence of the the fact that often it is hurt people who hurt people.<br /><br />It so happened in the palliative care ward of an Edmonton hospital one night (as outside a late spring blizzard was subsiding) that I was alone with Kelly for the last time in this life. Due to weather, timing and grace it was just my brother and I. These were the days of SARS-related health concerns and so hospital staff insisted visitors don all manner of protective-wear (latex gloves, gown, mask and cap) which of course I removed once we were alone soon after midnight. He was far past any ability to speak or communicate but I was aware he could understand me because tears would stream from the waxy hollows where his eyes had once been as I began to speak as I felt compelled to do once we were alone. I thanked my brother for looking after us as little boys in the best way he could and told him how good he looked (Magpies crave attention, you see) and how lucky he was to soon be with everyone who had come before us. His hands were cold as I held them and told him I had written a poem about him and though I could only remember the last part I would recite what I had memorized (the stanza beginning: <span style="font-style:italic;">in my dreams – we are boys again</span>…)<br /><br />It was, as mentioned, his last night on earth but it is the best of him which with stays with me, informs me, guides me, comforts and protects me. He is <span style="font-style:italic;">still</span> my big brother. It is special on a personal scale but it feels like a blessed and pre-destined thing to have been with Kelly and to have been able to look after him, if only once and to know for certain there was love in his final moments. Art can be transcendent at times and is, I believe, spiritual practice. <br /><br />Ekosi<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMfruFO5jQ5eciWMmkxVWQa1wP5jtDb8vVMfRnQjUZ3AYu1zn8E54v18F6LXebEQJx0q25lKV54hz-ZtqeYP9VOmcYJg5PztGF_5X3jo9twPYtVyyLAXe7F0CrASWheh6rITWbAH5fSk/s1600/magpie+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 259px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMfruFO5jQ5eciWMmkxVWQa1wP5jtDb8vVMfRnQjUZ3AYu1zn8E54v18F6LXebEQJx0q25lKV54hz-ZtqeYP9VOmcYJg5PztGF_5X3jo9twPYtVyyLAXe7F0CrASWheh6rITWbAH5fSk/s320/magpie+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5752509737643577042" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Magpie</span><br /><br />Carrying tobacco<br />and colored prints of fabric<br />I stand barefoot in wet grass -<br />traffic drowns out the sound of my voice<br />but I am speaking<br />and I am looking to the sky<br /><br />Saying that you have gone south<br />and you still have the gun with you,<br />they promise me they will catch up to you<br />(who is to punish them for their crimes?)<br />I would believe them were it not for the knowledge<br />that none has ever been able to catch up with you<br />so hard and fast do you run -<br />and I am wary of promises<br /><br />It has never been the way between us to agree<br />but tonight,<br />I want you to keep on running<br /><br />With clenched teeth<br />and fists<br />I demand answers<br />(where there are none)<br /><br />I <span style="font-style:italic;">demand</span> answers!<br /><br />In every direction that I look for you<br />I see faces committed to forgetting,<br />dedicated to relegating us to mere “<span style="font-style:italic;">social<br />constructs</span>,” rejecting antithetical images<br />of what they <span style="font-style:italic;">think</span> Indians are<br /><br />we are:<br />boys stolen at 2 and 6 years old<br />boys raised by strangers without black hair, and then<br />boys who return home as strange men<br />boys sharing a mother poisoned by prescriptions<br />boys whose cousins hang in trees<br />boys finding uncles with shotgun holes in them<br />boys who have not forgiven their fathers – only forgotten them<br />boys who are bleeding<br /><br /><br />In my dreams<br />we are boys again<br />and running barefoot through city streets<br />our shoes discarded<br />It must be that you remember<br />a place worth running to -<br />I am scared<br />but you are older<br />and I will follow you anywhere<br /><br />Magpie,<br />you are that dark bird<br />wounded,<br />singing in the dead of night<br />waiting your whole life for a moment to arrive<br /><br />Tonight<br />I can feel a cold wind at my back<br />on this wind<br />will you fly over gray fields?<br />your feathers long, blue and black<br />along the river’s silent edge will you soar? <br /><br />If only one good memory<br />is left in our hearts<br />I will meet you there<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />©2012 Champsteen Publishing</span>Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-11095582690640591362012-04-12T11:10:00.003-04:002012-05-05T17:48:58.769-04:00Charlie's Lullaby<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxykCQWMu8zHiQYYpv6X0wlPSkNrHt22eKOBSiqFlMTU7mvv20Vg6GPnpcpE7E8yQPy6NMh_9qJfVMHHrFyYg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
words and music by Larry Nicholson<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">recorded live at The Great Hall - First Nations House of Learning (University of British Columbia)</span><br />
<br />
violin: Jessica Deutsch<br />
hand drum, backing vocal: Kristi Haavisto<br />
guitar, vocal: Larry<br />
<br />
<br />
As well as being Cree, my daughters, Storm and Grace are Ojibway/Anishnabe through their mother and her people. There is so much that is beautiful about the Ojibway and the way they understand the universe and their place in it.
There is the Ojibway philosophy that it is our children who determine who their parents will be. The eternal spirit may wait many, many lifetimes until precisely the right mother and father are found. They choose us - it is out of our hands. The weight carried by this idea and all its implications is so immense that it leaves you grateful and of the mind to say thank-you to your children for including you, for coming all this way...just for you<br />
<br />
do you see why good ideas and words and music ARE medicine?...<br />
<br />
- - -<br />
<br />
welcome to the world dear<br />
it's warm beside you dear<br />
with mama in the sky dear<br />
and heaven down here on earth dear<br />
<br />
you called out my name love<br />
in my sleep where you came love<br />
the wild and the tame love<br />
i look and they're one and the same love<br />
<br />
you brought rain to the sky dear<br />
i'm happy to cry dear<br />
i'll never know why dear<br />
that you came all this way just for me dear<br />
<br />
you're free like the bird child<br />
you are the prayer that was heard child<br />
i know not the word child<br />
for the light that you brought to the world child<br />
<br />
you called out my name love<br />
in my sleep where you came love<br />
the wild and the tame love<br />
i look and they're one and the same love...<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>© 2009, 2012 Champsteen Publishing </i>Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-70615216239310829922012-02-13T04:38:00.001-05:002012-12-16T15:30:55.983-05:00A Kind Of Symmetry<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9B9coZzVNt6E3eiyx6FXdPeEWTTxowuAgW5KmX5B-6Y8ALzGRdKeBs5T6sjV4cKfSedDSoxHz2Pwp2Z6fW6ItKoearkJ7LPuOVA7khZ8qHkSkuiJw8WDzenu-BGRKNhrePW_qNZJnys/s1600/FEB+12+newspaper+scan.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708553596621402866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9B9coZzVNt6E3eiyx6FXdPeEWTTxowuAgW5KmX5B-6Y8ALzGRdKeBs5T6sjV4cKfSedDSoxHz2Pwp2Z6fW6ItKoearkJ7LPuOVA7khZ8qHkSkuiJw8WDzenu-BGRKNhrePW_qNZJnys/s400/FEB+12+newspaper+scan.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; height: 263px; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Recently, in a letter to a friend living on the East Coast, I wrote:<br />
<br />
...<span style="font-style: italic;">"I am of the mind that our lives ARE dramatic, ARE filled with unbelievable things that defy description to others. One simply must appreciate the events as they happen (or after the fact) and with luck they may come to understand what profound and meaningful days or moments are unfolding that may be intended only for them, us, or you…and no one else"</span>...<br />
<br />
I was fostered out as a baby during what has been coined “the 60’s and 70’s Scoop.” As such, I had virtually no contact whatsoever with my birth community or family of origin. That was until my mother passed away. Up to that point in my life I had visited several countries around the world but fear and trepidation had always prevented me from connecting with where I came from. I always meant to but never did. But when my mother died there was no question of what I must do and I made the journey to the reserve for the first time. To this day I believe my mom called me home for I am not sure if I ever would have mustered the courage to go of my own will and volition. It was during her wake and funeral that I met everybody and that my life changed momentously. It was surreal, it was profound and I know this: she brought me home. <br />
<br />
In some of the recent work I do I’ve been involved in connecting with 1st Nations families who, for one reason or another, have come to have various agencies involved in their lives. It’s not easy work and I do ALL SORTS OF THINGS to try and help keep families together (can’t think of too many things right now I won’t try, lol). So it was with some small measure of gratitude that I encountered a young, scrappy woman from northern Alberta as she fought to get her daughter returned to her care after having been apprehended under what I will only describe as dubious circumstances. The woman was obligated by authorities to complete a list of 4 conditions, which were then increased to 6, then 7, then FIFTEEN! At every step of the way for 6 months this woman was compliant and cooperative and I confess I was almost out of constructive feedback for her. The lawyers involved took it all in stride (why wouldn’t they?) but I was becoming frustrated. - Last week, before a court session, she and I went outside to stand near the trees, drop tobacco and pray. I told her about a woman from Vancouver Island who several years ago showed me a way of using water to pray and call for your helpers. It is clear to me that help is needed because I know what it is to feel your future was or is somehow dependent on people who likely, after a time, won’t even remember your name. But lo and behold a mediated agreement was reached with the Ministry and on a chilly and rainy evening this week the woman got her daughter back. The woman has no family on the coast and asked me to be there and so after the social worker left it was just the three of us as. I was touched and happy for them.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">**(Aboriginal children are disproportionately represented in foster care in Canada. Data from provincial and territorial ministries of child and family services for 2000–2002 suggest that 30% to 40% of children and youth placed in out-of-home care during those years were Aboriginal, yet Aboriginal children made up less than 5% of the total child population in Canada. This is especially daunting when one realizes these figures are on the increase everywhere.)**</span><br />
<br />
I do believe creator speaks to me through people and so, a couple weeks back, when an elder asked if I was attending a ceremony the next night (Saturday night)in East Vancouver my initial impulse was to decline but instead I said yes – I’m not kidding, if it is an elder I respect, I can’t say no and I fear I am becoming something of a soft touch in this town – they’re on to me! There is something sooooooo beautiful to be experienced among a bunch of Indians drumming, praying, singing then feasting in a run-down gymnasium in East Vancouver. The modest venue was deceptively perfect for our purpose. As the ceremony was set to begin I approached the elder who initiated my involvement and offered her the tobacco I had smudged and asked if she would mention my family in her prayers and I told her I would do the same for her. <br />
<br />
As I compose this piece a friend is traveling to Alberta by bus to try her luck in the mountains at Banff, near where, for a time, I lived at Lake Louise. I have high hopes for my friend but her situation is fraught with complicated circumstances. She feels rather apart from the world and believes the connection she seeks is to be found down that next road, in the next town, always over that next horizon. She’s an Indian, fostered out as a baby, not in touch with her birth community and maybe not so connected to her non-native adopted family and not at all receptive to subjects relating to her native ancestry. In days gone by I would have been sad for her but this is not what is called for. She has been here there and everywhere in Western Canada in her short, though to her, grueling 32 years and it was quite by happenstance that she and I became friends almost 2 years ago. But friends we are and I recognize her walk. I know her and I know something of her journey. We talked a lot when she arrived in Vancouver and eventually she agreed to counseling, to go to 12-step meetings and generally take care of herself. Last year she bounced around shared rental situations, recovery houses, emergency shelters and couches. I was happily surprised when she called one day from a treatment center in Saskatchewan, where she stayed put for 6 months and yet again I was surprised when she called once more from downtown Vancouver. She was back. No plan, no prospects just basically keeping her head above water which was, I reminded her, progress. So as I type this she will have departed again by a few hours which I must admit did not surprise me. She is sober 9 months and I hope the best for her. She has my landline, my office number my cell number and we are connected by internet. She knows how to reach me and I send her good thoughts as I understand they can travel vast distances.<br />
<br />
This coming Tuesday, February 14 we’ll mark the solemn occasion that is the annual Missing Women’s March and this year I honor specifically the woman identified as Brenda Wolfe, a victim of Robert Pickton. I knew her as Brenda Belanger when we were schoolmates, both of us students at Victoria Park School in Calgary. We were the cast-offs I think you could say, a few Indians but mainly Vietnamese and white kids but all decidedly the underclass and I believe we adopted something of an “us” against “them” attitude though today it is clear we were all the same. Back then, if you were a trouble-maker and couldn’t make it at Forest Lawn School or Bowness Public School (the bad schools), then Victoria Park, situated as it was near the Bow and Elbow rivers, near the Stampede grounds, close to downtown, was the place for you. It was essentially the end of the line. I don’t what happened to the kids who didn’t make it at Victoria Park. Though, sadly, Brenda’s fate was confirmed through DNA analysis and she was added to the official list, the seventh official murder charge. Brenda and I would cross paths occasionally over the years since middle school and she was always struck by the fact that I remembered her and that I would come up and talk to her. Even in my first spring and summer in Vancouver as I sat in a fast food joint on Broadway, wouldn’t you know I spotted Brenda of all people walking by and so I raced out to say hello. She gave me the lowdown and the heads up on a few things about Vancouver as I didn’t know anybody or anything about the city. I would see her briefly a few times more after that but never again. <br />
<br />
There appears to be a peculiar but unmistakable symmetry to life, events re-occur and people return or the memory of them resonates in a way seems to inform the goings-on in my life today. The cosmic filter through which I experience consciousness (life) carries real power and is deeply forceful.<br />
<br />
I take the Women’s March to be a ceremony. It is a ceremony in every real way that matters. It is a symbolic show of solidarity among the marginalized, the voiceless and powerless. It is a way of acknowledging that people do care. It is our way of saying that smoke and mirror procedural showcases by government and authorities that promote merely a pretense of justice will not undermine the spirit of people who clearly must fend for themselves and each other. I will go there to pray like devout Indians huddled in a gym in East Vancouver, those Indians of faith gathered in what may be the toughest and most dangerous neighborhood in the country, ground zero, praying - praying as though lives were depending on it.<br />
<br />
<br />
© 2012 Champsteen PublishingLarry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-45693597867916302022011-10-16T00:46:00.000-04:002021-06-17T08:55:23.676-04:00Words That Actually Matter (article)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkM-PhYwLaZ_ml_-qeuScSfl7FZIf3IIlG_CbucOQ6tt1HsGCOfYPZxXhO49afAq_NZH35m3erUcwDOdaSuYno73zCN1yrZhojC7FR9fG8I7D5AMYXiOmK6oaNBV4nBDYgVo8Tqhu0VHk/s1600/larry+fist.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663949706312147266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkM-PhYwLaZ_ml_-qeuScSfl7FZIf3IIlG_CbucOQ6tt1HsGCOfYPZxXhO49afAq_NZH35m3erUcwDOdaSuYno73zCN1yrZhojC7FR9fG8I7D5AMYXiOmK6oaNBV4nBDYgVo8Tqhu0VHk/s200/larry+fist.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 124px;" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;">Years ago, in a poetry workshop at UBC an established and esteemed Canadian writer (won’t say which one) questioned the wisdom behind my writing practice when I told her and my classmates I seldom saved copies of any of my poems up to that point. People in the room seemed incredulous (disbelieving). “Well, what on earth do you do with them?” - one of them interrogated.
“I put them in letters.”
“Letters?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t keep a copy for yourself?”
“Maybe some of them do, but I don’t.”
“Don’t you want to publish any of them?”
“Only one person, anywhere has <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">that</span></span> poem - doesn't that make it special?”
You could see wheels turning as the writer remarked, rather dismissively, “well, if you published any of them then at least you’d get to do things like come here and read for you guys.” I couldn’t argue with that rationale but it also occurs to me that in all truth I can’t remember any of that woman’s poetry, a Governor General’s Award winner, mind you, indicating that somebody, somewhere must like her work. I’ve always said that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure – which more or less means that you can’t account for taste and this includes areas such as that routinely referred to as art. But I've also asked: is it memorable?...will I or anyone else remember it? I can think of only 2 authors whose poetry I can read for an hour or longer in one sitting - e.e. cummings and Al Purdy - NOBODY else (not even my own stuff, haha!)...and I love poetry. Some collections of poetry? you need only open and turn to a page, any page and read a stanza or selection then turn to any other random page and read and you will think you are reading the same poem. Leaf through it and it is like reading the same poem over and over again - one...long...poem. One doesn't seem distinguishable from any other. <span style="font-style: italic;">Many are called, but few are chosen, haha!
</span>
Entertainment is a different beast in my mind. I won’t get into providing examples of expression I feel are art and those which are entertainment, cause some…are both. At any rate, I listened to a fantastic interview with Maurice Sendak, author of <span style="font-style: italic;">Where the Wild Things Are</span>. The writer remarked - “my gods are Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson and Mozart,” and I have long felt and said the same thing. The writers (though not always necessarily what might be considered the “great” writers) told and taught me most about what it meant...to be alive. As a passed-around Indian kid I never experienced an adult or elder figure who shared with me or provided me with context or background about the world I inhabited. It was only through literature (with a Big L), certainly not comic books, or children’s television or movies that I found the insight that would resonate with what I call my soul. It is not an exaggeration to say the great and lesser writers were more a mother, father or grandparent to me than any actual living human being until I was well into in my twenties (and people wonder why I'm such a strange guy haha!). But I also feel, about writing, and the words which have spoken to me and still exist to speak to me long, long after they were written – I believe in them with all my heart, for they have, as much as anything, changed me. These things are true. So, for me, to write is not an entertainment or a past time or a hobby - it is a compulsion. It is something I must do. If once, even twice in a life a writer can summon, then put down, words with <span style="font-style: italic;">any kind of depth<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span> he can go beyond entertaining, he can touch people and he can move them, and he can make them think and he can thereby enlighten them.
For the first time on my blog I am including work by other artists.</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Lorraine (I called her Lou) was 19, I was 23 or 24 or so when we knew each other at Lake Louise and worked together in an ancient, rustic, wooden hotel, high in the Rocky mountains in the early nineties. In our off-hours, she and I were in the habit of reading to each other until the one being read to fell asleep. There was a lot of napping going on up there and I’m sure it had nothing to do with how much pot was being used. Either way, I was given this poem during our time together and I kept it and it is very dear to me. I don’t claim it to be about or inspired by me - I don't wish to convince you of it's literary merits or impact - it is just something beautiful for me and I have held onto the words. Thanks Lou</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">I See You</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">You are my window to the world</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Brush your finger upon my cheek</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">a touch that be so daisy petal soft</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Our souls entwined, we conquer all mightier</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">sail the un-sailable seas</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Unsure as a new born, my eyes remain closed</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Life’s golden hand at love</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">an attempt to caress the sweetness</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">only to feel the rose’s prick</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The blood trickles to drop free</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">you’ve pierced my naïve heart</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">To laugh and dance upon my remains
still,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">as I breathe your sweet breath</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I lay with no heart</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">only to see you
continue your journey in another’s hand</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">- Lorraine F.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Finally, I am posting this poem by Storm (my daughter) who was 7 when she composed this and it just may be my favorite poem…period. Pardon me if I don’t mistake this for evidence of possession of not only an abstract thought process, but an elegant one…</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">My Special Place</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPDRK_Pj3tyLOfCA7A2H0yyu1oDMLvq8GDwdVpppa9QJ1-2stATSwGmzac7pHPSMG-b8-JEtATOXWyzLk9vLVVVtJtc8w8GZCVhSUZaEQiGeL2D64mdHvZEtjx49-1Ad0R_l0KGW0sEw/s1600/storm+blog.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="258" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5663952598250750226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPDRK_Pj3tyLOfCA7A2H0yyu1oDMLvq8GDwdVpppa9QJ1-2stATSwGmzac7pHPSMG-b8-JEtATOXWyzLk9vLVVVtJtc8w8GZCVhSUZaEQiGeL2D64mdHvZEtjx49-1Ad0R_l0KGW0sEw/w166-h258/storm+blog.bmp" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 166px;" width="166" /></a>
I have a special place</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It is quiet as a snake</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It is quiet as snow falling</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It is so quiet I can hear the sound of wind going by</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">It is so quiet I can hear the butterflies flying by me</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">I have a special place -</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">it is a lake and lots of other things</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">- Storm Standing-On-The-Road</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Like Maurice Sendak said: <span style="font-style: italic;">art has always been my salvation.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">©2011 Champsteen Publishing</span></div>Larry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-28011556949359071512011-09-24T12:30:00.000-04:002011-09-25T01:27:30.538-04:00BEING NATIVE 101<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0F-7eN540f8EXapru5jKwQnMtfGFWMHIAZt4HLEURtCREUK7-Rw8gaKvX9t0HIMN8CYb71Va7ycNRnjbFFVtfliWFkR5UP2mz_flxWNTf5z4rEb-LSR3yxXZON-sF5EumFO_1dNSJjM/s1600/East+Side+Smudge.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0F-7eN540f8EXapru5jKwQnMtfGFWMHIAZt4HLEURtCREUK7-Rw8gaKvX9t0HIMN8CYb71Va7ycNRnjbFFVtfliWFkR5UP2mz_flxWNTf5z4rEb-LSR3yxXZON-sF5EumFO_1dNSJjM/s400/East+Side+Smudge.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5655965951958280354" /></a><br /><br />Today’s East Side Smudge goes down and for the most impoverished postal code in Canada (statistically, speaking) it is clearly needed. Elsewhere on this blog I’ve written about institutional and systemic failure to address some basic issues of health and safety for the most vulnerable people. And though I may have implied it throughout my blog if not stated it outright - the healing of communities and nations begins here (taps chest)…<br /><br />Basic universal fact about Indians: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Indians pray</span>.<br /><br />If you are an Indian, 1st Nations, Indigenous, Native, Aboriginal (or WHATEVER) and are reading this and are not one in the regular habit of praying, my question is: what do <span style="font-style:italic;">YOU</span> know that all your relatives and ancestors before you didn’t? I encounter a lot of Indians these days that seem to be too cool for school and get visibly skittish when it comes to acknowledging their "relationship" with Creator (insert lol here), that is, praying. How did it get like this? When did praying become something unseemly or embarrassing for us Indigenous types?<br /><br />At ceremonies, events and gatherings I hear all the time, we pray for the ones to come and acknowledge those who came before us. Since becoming a father to 2 girls (now 11 and 14), I have come to experience a more profound sense of connection to people from the past (that I never met). I unabashedly pray for my kids (and their kids not born yet) and there is no doubt in my mind as I type this that people well before my time prayed for me. This is partly how it works being an Indian…it’s my part in what I call a sacred duty - All these things are real to me! - Perhaps a simpler way is to say it matters to me to pray and to try and put good energy out in the universe.<br /><br />I may have never met you (if you are reading here for the first time) but if you are of aboriginal ancestry I am telling you, without question - you come from a long, long line of powerful, formidable, accomplished and deeply spiritual people who ALL prayed. My theory is that it is only due to a wide array of unique, historical circumstances that praying seems currently to have become a novelty among my generation and, for increasingly obvious reasons for the generation before ours, it is now a complicated if not painful subject. But our ancestral ties, our time on this earth, our unique vision of ourselves and our place in the universe are thousands of years in the making and cannot be undone or destroyed by force, plague or policy, it’s all been tried.<br /><br />I have yet to visit any 1st Nations community where prayer wasn’t an active part in daily lives of those in pursuit of nothing more complicated or easily attainable than balance. This daily pursuit/practice or meditation if you like, has profound implications and potential for transformation and creative possibility. The solutions to our challenges require creative thinking to bring about change. Look to the people you admire, I am willing to bet that most if not all these are people engaged in frequent spiritual practice of one sort or another (cause I <span style="font-style:italic;">know</span> you admire the admirable and not the shallow, superficial types, this is also part of my basic premise, lol). <br /><br />We as a people have demonstrated consistently (though pessimists will say otherwise) a high capacity to deal with adversity, upheaval, trauma and grief. The evidence is…we are still here. But as I head down to Main and Hastings and the community smudge today I am more focused on the untapped reserves in our capacities for kindness, empathy, compassion, gratitude and our capacity for love. It is the VALUES which make us who we are from day to day. As you read this, YOU are an answered prayer - the fact that you live and breathe – this is not rhetorical. I am telling you: your people before you…prayed…for YOU…think about it.<br /><br />So - your life-long question at the school of hard knocks or at Being an Indian 101:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Who are you and what do you stand for?</span> <br /><br />© 2011 Champsteen PublishingLarry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1115498427071081229.post-30595658105016355152011-08-29T03:09:00.000-04:002011-09-01T03:39:13.560-04:00Watershed (song)<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwJ1mhUOYf6T2RNTlYx8XPVNEB-iaOjmGGi6R6g0s5RbJ3Ehe3prqZf4clIuIbXNhl4_xqGCwKuUNWe2YARPQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>
<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">words and music: larry nicholson</span>
<br />
<br />
<br />I come from the heartland of peaceful hills
<br />I’ve seen the kindness of love and the space it fills
<br />I know no mother, no father mine to see
<br />but everything I am is everything they’ll be
<br />on painted ponies I named each road
<br />the good will of strangers carried my load
<br />I’ve tasted honey, I’ve tasted wine
<br />I hold the sweet holy memory of her lips on mine
<br />and I’ve known freedom…yes, I recall
<br />
<br />inside the empire of broken dreams
<br />cascading temples of gold where fortune streams
<br />down darkened alleys are the ones who pay
<br />for all this wreckage, these midnight ways
<br />the ones grown lonely in the howlin’ wind
<br />who mark the cost in dust in everything we’ve been
<br />can love turn back time - will it pay the bills
<br />or stop a bullet that tears through the night so still?
<br />I’ve been a witness…yes I recall
<br />
<br />saved all the letters you wrote about snow
<br />and all the miles in between that remind me of home
<br />out of the ashes, the watershed
<br />a distant memory of names and of times we bled
<br />speak to me softly on this moonless night
<br />where faith can’t be seen and there’s no starlight
<br />though still the waters must bring the rain
<br />to hear a voice beside me in the darkness say
<br />I’m too a witness…yes, I recall...
<br />and I remember…yes, I recall…
<br />
<br />
<br />©2011 Champsteen PublishingLarry Nicholsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00610378849664617308noreply@blogger.com0