Teenagers

I love Taylor Swift. I think she is so poised, graceful, intelligent and articulate. She writes her own songs which are a perfect mix of infinite cheese and poignant observation. I can only handle so much, I mean, I won't listen to her all day. She get's a shout out though for sure. My 14 year old sister, Alura, loves her. Which makes total sense - she can listen all day and it could not get old. My confession is that I listen to a lot of Enya. It puts most other people to sleep, but I think it's relaxing background music, uplifting in an angelic way. I've been sort of banned being the DJ at my Aunt's because I played Enya once when we were reading our Fairy Cards It's not like I would play nothing else! I do have very eclecctic tastes. While we're on the topic of the WU, let's just discuss, how talented is the RZA? He's on Judd Appatow's comedy writing team, does the score for many films and is just a general GA EEN YUS! yow! That warms my heart, just knowing the depth and intelligence of such a ghetto crew. Their whole philosophy is really something else, they are real leaders in terms of collective consciousness. I'm going to take Lucy, the dog, for a walk now. I promise (Julia, Katie) to update this on the regular now. Love me. Love you.

Clown Water

Had a little chat with Barry Walsh the other night and he told me he had "crawled home on the clown water" , and the next day the local homeless dude congratulated him on his wonderful time at which point he decided it mght be time to take a little break from the old clown water.
It took a minute for it to click in how utterly bang on and hilarious that name is. When it actually did sink in it was like a revelation. Of course. Clown water. I was so busy trying to picture whether he actually did "crawl" home, or if he was "crawling" or "on the crawl" as an expression - it took a minute to dawn on me how genius cw is. Calling it that makes it so simple to describe and that much less desireable(or more, depending on the effect your going for).I mean, if upping the clown quotient is what I am going for, yes, bring on the clown water. Let's face the facts that this is not a picture of your typical clown, nor would you use this image to describe "clown". in other words, clown water won't bring you closer to her or closer to looking anything like that type of clown. What the heck am I ambling on about? or was it rambling. oh yes. clown water.

Working

One highly advanced being recently told me he drank wine to warm his bones. Once. A glass.
and:

Fresh. Children. Pure. Babies. Can someone stop me? before LIFE takes over??? kidding... kid...ing...love is everything.

Hover Craft

I've been doing the one day at a time no drinking thing. It can be tedious. I like to drink! And there is always a reason. A going away party. a birthday. a you're on vacation, c'mon! you're back from vacation. welcome back. so and so is leaving. have another. sigh. the benefits from abstaining are obvious though. radiant skin. heightened creativity. more time to browse the internet in search of easy to watch TV series' from the 80s and 90s. Old TV shows have been keeping me cozy and saving me from myself. I leave the house everyday to teach, which is enjoyable, I truly do value all of my students company and I do like teaching. When class is over I am pretty stoked to run home knowing what's waiting for me when I get there. I get so cozy, and I have the best sleeps. It's important to understand I am not a big TV watcher. I've just been getting into it recently after about an 18 year hiatus, and it is quite nice. I don't feel an obligation to do anything but just sit and enjoy. Read, write, teach, sit, enjoy, repeat. Which is just perfect for the moment.

Timelessness

It has been quite awhile there folks. I've mentioned before that I do not have a tiny little air book - my computer is a massive dinosaur.
So it makes it a little tricky to write while in transit. Except for little fake book updates like "In NY. Holler." or "Montreal Je T'aime. C'est quoi le mot le gros?" Right. I am back in Lima. With an abundance of energy and verve, despite the grey, because I have made the clear decision to leave.
Knowing that I am just here to sort of "wrap things up" makes it all the more relaxing and a million times less stressful.
I don't need a clairvoyant to tell me that there are possibly a plethora of other options waiting for me. though a clairvoyant did tell me that. so I am going to visit a good friend in Bali and then probably go to Spain and France before I move back to Canada. and if one more person asks me if I've ever read EAT, PRAY, LOVE or THE NANNY DIARIES (or seen either, for that matter) I just may have to swear off both for life. is that so wrong? Besides I'd much rather see 17 AGAIN again. and again. and again. and again.
Kind of all over the map, I know. But doesn't that just sort of "fit"? The whole "all over the map" business? It's the University of life. Do it while I can. Get it while it's hot. Ok so that picture of Mother Mary reading a book to a baby that looks like a middle aged man is NOT hot, but you get the picture right? Catch my drift? Get what I'm saying? Pick up what I'm putting down? I'm putting it down. Are you picking it up? Can you hear my tone? Let's face it. This is just a kind of ramble to let "you" know that I am still here. and that "this" is possible. now something to balance out the painting with the baby man. Happy September! My birth month. and how!

GURU

Life imitates art. What kind of allegory finds legendary MC GURU (Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal) departing his present physical existence at such a young age - with his friend and partner MC SOLAR standing by his side? GURU defined as "one who dispels darkness of ignorance" or "teacher". In Sanskrit, GU means darkness and RU means light. Solar being just as it sounds - sun, light, the life giver - energy source, preceding from the light. The names Guru and Solar not only go well together, they represent something profound in these changing times, times of prophecy. The kind of names that suggest a reason, an answer or some kind of guidance towards something more powerful. Titles that suggest ETERNAL BEING. Life eternal? Guru did live up to his name in many ways with his lyrics - from the album STEP IN THE ARENA: "It means I find my mind can excel to, a greater type of thought, brought by the things that I've been taught, in relation to things that I rebel to - divine and combined, with a sense of confidence" or "Original invincible, that's how I'm looking at it, I use my rhymes like a glock automatic, any means necessary, I'm going all out, before the rains bring the nuclear fall out ... now for my people out there I got a question - can we be the soul controlers of our fate, now who's gonna take the weight?"...
I'm not to up on his falling out with Premier (have a feeling it had SOMETHING to do with money, in one way or another)I just know that SOLAR became his right hand man/ production partner, and in the last year of his life, his best friend and entire family. Regardless, GURU is an epic MC who inspired me on so many levels. My Dad used to laugh with amazement when he would drive me to school and I'd be singing along to EVERY SINGLE Gang Starr lyric. How could I NOT end up rapping, with those beats and lyrics that I knew an understood so well in my head? I was blessed to meet GURU after a show in Ottawa. I dropped some lyrics from "GIRL WHADDYA WANT?" and he started bowing down! "You remember my lyrics better than I do!" I was about to walk away and he was like "Wait, I want to thank you. You just gave me such a boost! You just lifted me up! It's for you that I'm still doing this - people like you that honestly get the music, feel the music, and keep it with them - it certainly aint for the money! There's no money left in it for me!" I was like, holy shit are you kidding me? You're my hero and my biggest inspiration - I mean, I have other favorite MCs (NAS, Q-TIP, OUTKAST) that have influenced me - I just always felt a very specific connection with GURU. It made sense that I would be standing there talking to him, that he would give me a big heartfelt hug and thank me for being there. He was telling me about how he doesn't even touch a drink or drug anymore, that it makes him act crazy - get into fights and do things that he would for sure regret later. He seemed like someone that really wanted to communicate about where he was at and I felt alot of sincerity and kindness in his vibe. I also felt that alot of things were weighing him down. He had a certain sadness about him, a roughness in his voice that comes from grief, a blockage in the throat chakra. When news of his death came today it caught alot of people by surprise. It was semi-known that he wasn't well, and that SOLAR was by his side. It's my wish that he didn't isolate himself, or block out those that love him due to pride. Whatever the case, the burden he was carrying in the last years of his life weighed him down and became too much for his body to handle in this life. April is a beautiful time to pass on to the other side. Years ago, the same group of friends that I listened to GURU with lost a friend of ours as well in April '98 - Donald Neil. I hold them both in my heart and cherish them as eternal, light beings.

Salty

I've been thinking about salt all afternoon. In fact, I think about salt alot. Not directly - though it's always there in my subconscious. Like, really there, everpresent. It dictates my meal choices. And whether or not I say yes to a movie. It all started with a friend of mine responding to some helpful critism with "Thanks for rubbing salt on my wound." To which I said "Salt is one of the earths greatest healing properties." She found this oddly soothing. Which got me googling salt. I found this: Salt has healing properties. It kills most germs on contact. It burns when it hits a raw spot, but is very effective in cleansing a wound so it can heal. "Don't rub salt in my wounds", is a statement often heard when a person is hurt from good advice. I also found this: What is a salty person? Life always adds new meanings, and flavor to words. It has its extremes and what it accepts as a norm.


"Don't ever go fishin" with that fellow ... he is too salty." When the group thinned out I asked one of the old timers what it meant to be too salty. That means a person who takes too many risks while fishing in the ocean. (The Colonial was known for fishing in the white water of the surf in his boat.) It is very dangerous because if the boat falters just a moment it will be swamped, turned over, and that brings danger of drowning. People who are willing to take such risks are called "salty".



I had a NY summer romance when I was still living in Brooklyn. His name was Charlie. He was really cute and he gave me a pink balloon he found on the street 'a la' summer city street style, to match my pink pants. He kept saying "You're sweet." To which I'd reply "I'm not sweet, I'm salty!" Then he'd correct himself and be like ok, ok! you're salty! I was really adamant about it - like, don't confuse me with sweet! If there is one thing that I know about myself, it's that I'm salty. salty, salty, salt of the earth. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

Avatar

Yo yo yo! In Spanish that's Me me me! So I guess that's what it's been all about for the past 2 months while I've totally ignored my throngs of fans who await my musings of literal genius...ok, so I have 4 fans. Maybe 3. The point is, I have not been purposely ignoring you dudes, nor my ability to keep this entertaining - I've sort of just been gypsy'ing around. In the past 2 months I've gone from Brooklyn, Ny - Aspen, Colorado, BACK to Brooklyn, across the bridge to Manhattan (that counts) on a plane to San Diego, Ca, from SD - LA, LAX - Lima, Peru. Since then a whole bunch of little beaches and cute little neighborhoods - only I didn't bring my wagon with me - people get the wrong idea here. I mean, in NY it's totally "style" to wear a shirt with rips everywhere and never wash your jeans. Here people are like "were you attacked by a dog? were you trampled by a wild mob?" Someone said to me the other day "You are no Gypsy girl" (and everyone here pronounces it wrong - they say g like girl instead of g like Jeans...)and I'm like, what do you mean I'm not a Gypsy? because I don't look like this? Yeah, maybe, but wait until you see my room. It looks like this: SO, though I may look like like THIS: my thoughts, which you can't see,probably look like THIS: It doesn't mean I'm not THIS: which I sort of totally almost always forever am,(!) since GYPSY is a state of mind and a way of being more than a look..A gypsy is a mystic, a traveller, a musician, someone who uses their ingenuity and charm to find a way and get out of a bind, someone who understands the powers of the universe, and is misunderstood by the mainstream, mechanical, materialistic soceity. A Gypsy always has a story, a crystal, a vision, and is ready for adventure - for a gypsy, linear time is fictional, something to be played with. Ok, but enough "floro" "comi un loro". The truth is I got the tattoo on a whim, and just wanted something with a G, and my little sister Katie, talked me OUT of Giver' (thank GOD). She called me and was like "Gypsy - get GYPSY- it's so Fleetwood Mac, it's so you.." Not much more needed to be said "It's so fleetwood mac, it's so you"..My boyfriend at the time, who was with me, thought I was NUTS! (and he's got tattoos, and is pretty spontaneous) anyway, after he and I broke up and I'd moved away, months down the line, he called me and said "you know Sari, I thought you were nuts at the time, but the more I think about it, the more time passes - I realised it really suits you Sari, and you're not so crazy afterall."