you said WHAT?
in Funny Stuff
as cardboard, clear as day, glass, good sense, gosh, haunches, house, life, mind, monkey house, neo nazi, question, silverback, silverback gorillas, sister, today, wilds, zoo, zoo keeper, zoo keepers
I find life utterly and unanimously fascinating.
Which is why I was pumping a zoo keeper today for information about the gorillas, while we were in the monkey house. Because the silverback gorillas who were just chilling, eating cardboard and scratching their heads while sitting back on their respective haunches were totally fascinating. And I wanted to know more.
Specifically, I wanted to know how a gorilla came to be in a zoo. I mean, are they sitting there behind the glass dreaming of the wilds of Africa that they once knew? Because if so, that’d make me terribly sad. So sad, that I might just bring my own cardboard and pensively chew it, myself.
Anyway, that was the question I was trying to form. What I ended up saying, however, was vastly different. See, the keywords that were in my mind were “capture” and “zoo.” Makes pretty good sense, I think. Until I opened my mouth and said, clear as day:
“So, do you capture jews?”
Yes. That is what I said.
DO YOU CAPTURE JEWS?
I asked a zoo keeper this today.
Oh, gosh. My sister even heard me and had to leave, she thought it was so funny and weird. Luckily, the zoo keeper was either too polite or not paying enough attention to respond directly to the fact that I had basically just accused him of being a neo-nazi.
And for the record, I do not now, nor have I ever, suspected that zoo keepers go around capturing jews.
all full up tonight.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as airplane, beautiful mystery, black sky, body, cannot, choreography, contentment, face, feeling, fingers, free laughter, Furth, gift, hand, heart, holes, hou, kind, land, mind, mystery, patches, patchwork quilt, Peace, person, phrase, psyche, quilt, run, running through my mind, sense, shooting star, sky, song god, special person, thread, tonight, wear, wellness, yellow fire
All full up.
Oh, it’s terrible English, I know–and I cannot remember where I first heard this phrase–but it keeps running through my mind tonight. I have this sense of contentment, of wellness, that feels even bigger than my body, if that makes sense. Like my fingers only go so far when I reach; but, oh! this feeling of peace, it extends. Further than I knew, maybe.
And I feel, well, all full up.
Like the holes that have been poked through my psyche and my heart and my mind have started to patch. And you know what? I’ve always really liked patches. One of my favorite parts of flying in an airplane is looking down and seeing the land assembled like a patchwork quilt.
Which is something else I love. I’ve always wanted to make one, actually. And I’m gonna do it someday, too. And then I’m gonna give it to a really special person. You’ll see.
But maybe it was the shooting star I saw, falling like a thread of silver through the black sky; or the very short run I made with my dog in the kind of night that is so dark, it forbids you from seeing your own hand in front of your face; or the honest and free laughter that I shared with my parents (some laughter isn’t free; unkind laughter takes from you, leaves you in a debt that is hard to pay back); or talking to some friends late tonight in a house made warm by a yellow fire and happy by music; or the choreography I taught to a friend who loves to dance, sees it as a kind gift from an even kinder Creator; or maybe I could cite every last good thing I can remember and still not quite define what has me all full up tonight.
Maybe it’s like stripping the rose of every last petal in an effort to find what makes it smell so lovely–this peace, this life, this love–it’s big. Bigger than me. Bigger than one day or night. And I am happy, so happy to be included in it. I feel like traces of the song God first sung to cause everything in this old world to grow and breathe and bloom and be can be heard tonight.
And it has me all full up.
seen it all with you.
in MP3, Performance, video
as Better, changes of the heart, heart, looong, looong time, mind, person, rap, song, time, voila
Folks! Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. Folks. How’s that? Better? Good. Moving on. I finished this song that I wrote a long (looong) time ago. It no longer applies to the person I originally had in mind when I wrote it. So, I dusted it off, threw in a rap, and voila! it’s not [...]
hopping mad.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as body, capoeira, course, crazy thing, earbuds, ears, everything, helmet, kind, legs, mad at the world, mind, opponent, passage, rebellion, tantrums, training, two legs
It’s strange, I’m doing better, but now that I’m finally here, I’m starting to feel angry. And not even necessarily at who you think. Lately, I have felt pissed off. Which is better than being pissed on, somebody reminded me. But, yes. It seems easier than ever these days to feel plain old mad. All [...]
thinking in sentences and writing it down.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as ALERT, area 51, body mind and spirit, city, communist china, course, kind, mind, mind and spirit, nephew, nieces, puppy, sentences, Shane, Somebody, something, tonight, way, wildlife, willow
Okay, so these are some thoughts. And…here goes: I was informed that the water in New Orleans is getting high and displacing some wildlife. Thus, the city has issued a SNAKE ALERT. That is what you call BAMF. Tonight The Paper Janes rocked. Oh, it was fun. I felt it in my bones. And my [...]
drunkard’s prayer tonight.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as blonde hair, Drunkard, girl, haircuts, happiness, jesus loves, kind, kind of prayer, mind, nothing but water, overwhelming lack, peace and contentment, place, pray, prayer, Rhine, song, tonight, way, wonder
There is a song by Over the Rhine called Drunkard’s Prayer. I’d like to pray that kind of prayer right now, if you don’t mind. And no, I’ve drunk nothing but water over the past forever, I think, but I am feeling a bit intoxicated, anyway. I am feeling sad and I am trying to [...]
when we hung out and wore each other’s flannel shirts.
in Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as 3rd street promenade, dinnertime, flannel shirt, flannel shirts, flower family, little dress, lunch, mind, nearby stores, nobody, o clock, palm trees, Promenade, someone, something, storefront, storefront window, street, today, way
I saw two very good friends from ACL today. We had lunch. Well, if it’s five o’clock and you still haven’t left the table, does it technically enter into dinner? Maybe. But we definitely had something. That involved food. And a table. And lots of talking. Which is why we were still sitting there at [...]
unbidden
in Funny Stuff, Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as Believe, Cher, Escapade, haunting melody, Janet Jackson, jenna, memories, mind, nothing, perfect hair, pop diva, press rewind, room, sentimental/inspiration, something, song, thoughts/life, trapper keepers
It’s funny how the mind works. One second you’re crying about something or other, feeling absolutely overpowered by the strength of your emotion, positive that there is room for nothing else. Ever. When all of the sudden something utterly ridiculous pops into your mind. It’s like the guy at the funeral that cracks a joke: [...]
oh, flying.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as Exit Row, God, green beret, humor, lady in blue, man, mind, philadelphia, philadelphia airport, plane, purse, Saddam Hussein, sleep deprivation, small purse, theater/tour, tone, travel days
I know why they won’t let you check in for your flight. You’re late! You. Are. Late…!!! Said the man standing behind me while waiting at the Northwest counter. I looked into his light blue eyes and couldn’t decide what was more annoying, the shade of his crystalline eyes or the jovial tone he used [...]
