Mopac and 360 closed, man attempting suicide at the greenbelt

Yesterday, was a good day to be a cyclist.

A 22-year old man with a gun, threatening suicide, was spotted at 3 pm on the Barton Creek greenbelt in Austin by a witness who called 911, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The SWAT team converged on the site and shut down both lanes of Mopac near 360 to handle the situation. In turn, all of Austin's traffic ground to a halt. Cars backed up from Mopac/360, the bottom edge of Austin, to 2222, a near edge in the north. Perhaps you know, perhaps you were in it. The steaming metal beasts of cars trickled along Austin's major highways and side streets with no option of speed. But the cyclists, they, reigned supreme.

I was in a car, heading southbound on Lamar home to Bouldin Creek. From work, at 2222, I heard traffic was a sludgy mess and tried to take side streets and Lamar instead. It barely worked. Scanning the radio for news, I finally found a local sports show devoting some time to discussing the standoff between police and the suicidal young man. I can't say I was glad to hear their thoughts. Their traffic reporter though, had insightful, compassionate things to say. She hoped the situation would be resolved and the young man would emerge unscathed, seek the help he needs and heal. Her co-hosts, chuckled over her well wishes with phrases like "I hope he does succeed! I hope the dude offs himself now and let's us re-open the highway." and, "Man, if you're going to commit suicide can you at least do it at home so we don't have to deal with it?!" Perhaps the best, "This guy doesn't really want to do it, he doesn't really. He's bluffing. But you know there are people in this traffic who now want to kill themselves!"

My car still sluggishly moving forward, I stared out at all the bikes, scores of them, zipping along on thin silver wheels. Beautiful, glinting objects flying along the sidewalk at warp speeds compared to us. This was no planned Critical Mass, just a bunch of cyclists who were doing the right thing.

The cars we all sat in were tremendous burdens. Too big for us, to heavy for us to just pick up and move to the side to scoot home. Yes, they kept us cool. Yes, their air conditioning was a welcome respite from the 101 degree air outside. But their engines are only making the climate warmer. The CO2 created yesterday from the entire city of Austin performing a spontaneous, enormous, collective idling "happening" across the city must have numbered in the hundreds of pounds. CO2 emissions from idling are real, see this primer and you'll stop idling your car at the train tracks or to warm it up in the winter.

The cyclists whipped past us, getting to their destinations on time, and arriving having put their muscles, bones, bodies to work. They arrived happy, upbeat, with quickened pulses, alive. The drivers were exhausted, frenetically giving up on getting home any time soon, while the cyclists played on bouyant tires, zinging past us.

I am putting my car to rest. It's bikes and buses for me. I won't contribute to continued global warming and global climate change. This heat will only get worse if we don't all radically change. And it's time. If you can't figure out how to put your car to rest, post a comment here and we'll help you make it possible.

I'm a newly converted bus rider. Join me.

I now ride the bus to and from work because it became too ridiculous not to. The number five bus rolls up 100 feet from my house in the morning and 45 minutes later rolls in twenty feet from my office. I have no excuse.

I went on Capital Metro's website and found this commuting calculator that fully validated my desire to save money and the environment by riding the bus. Through a bunch of data I filled in, it calculated I spend $197 a month commuting to my job nine miles north of my house. That's $2373 a year I could be using for much more interesting things than a car. Like gaycations!! In the present too, the bus gives me more of an opportunity to draw, write, read, watch movies, listen to music, meditate, etc. because I'm not on Mopac navigating the highway like a zen surfer in a metal rocket on tires. 

I am also now predictably on time! My own car could wait for me indefinitely as I changed outfits three times, but the bus will leave me behind if I don't hustle. Now I arrive at work at 8:45 daily, as smoothly as a clock.

Riding the bus thusfar has produced: 2 poems, 3 small painting/drawings, the reading of two books, and the rediscovery of ancient gems in my iTunes including thought-provoking slam poems by the Suicide Kings and Saul Williams left over from my performance poet days. Too, my sense of connection to humanity and interest in learning about others has been effortlessly heightened as I sit next to blind teenagers and aging construction workers, professionals in ties and high heels bound by their laptop cases, young men headed to school or jobs who shout and laugh in Hindi while riding for only a few stops and then departing, and so on. 

The seclusion of our automobiles can feel like a cozy, moving shrine at times, or an extension of ourselves, but during other times, like 5:30 pm Mopac rush hour, cars can feel like boxy weights holding us back from the joy of home. I'm glad to be moving in a new direction. Try it out. I'll see you on the bus.

(This Friday, May 15th, is Bike to Work Day. Many local bike-loving businesses are providing breakfast for the cyclists: see a map of all the food stops here.) I'll be riding!

CocoRosie and their insulated world

I watched two interviews with CocoRosie and was struck by their disconnected behavior, as if somehow in their connection to each other and their art-music, they are unable/disinterested in connecting with the rest of the world. As a being who is interested in connecting to as many others in the world as possible, and doing so intentionally, I was disappointed to feel this disconnect from them. I love many of their songs, but did not love this. Watch them here, in order:

The first (can't embed).

The second:

They speak of their desire to insulate themselves from the world, create a private space, to make their music from. And this "artists as isolationists" belief is a thread that runs through all time and into the current moment. But I disagree with it heavily now. I do not see it as responsible to create art out of that space. I see it as intentional obliviousness. Willful ignorance of the scope of events going on in the world today. To me, artists, musicians, cultural creators, have an obligation to inform themselves of the contemporary world and history, of philosophy and realities, and then make their new works to further the dialogue or illuminate a problem, or even the best, solve one!

Art, music, culture, is our gift to the world and if we use it only to distance ourselves, or mock the present world as is, we are mis-using our gifts. We are taking advantage of capitalism to support our selfishness. We are feeding our egos.

A very bright article in the New York Times today, by Holland Cotter, has inspired me to think with optimism on how the art world can become. How this economic upheaval can create a whole new way of thinking and making. It's beyond inspiring. Read his absolutely articulate, wise article, "The Boom Is Over. Long Live The Art!" here.

Obama is a constant happy surprise

I had forgotten what it was like to be pleased with what one's government's actions. Never in my adult life had I experienced the U.S. government creating legislation that was cognizant of global climate change and working progressively to curb it, or acting to cease detainment/torture of prisoners on foreign soil without probably evidence. All this in the first week? Thank you Obama.

From the NYTimes:
Obama's Order is Likely to Tighten Auto Standards

Inauguration Poem for Obama, on Inauguration Day

As we watch the Inauguration with joy today, a re-post of my poem celebrating Obama's victory, the beauty of our collective connected humanity, and the conscious evolution we are undertaking.

Above the Streetlights Poem with an ASL Interpreter

Dave Pokorney was also filming my poem at the Vets for Peace Concert. Here's his video, from Vimeo. Diane Delange is the incredible ASL interpreter next to me. Thank you Diane.

Above the Streetlights

My most recent poem, with mention of Austin at the beginning, performed at a Veteran's for Peace benefit concert in Gainesville, Florida.

Renewal Where Once Was Rust

This is a late re-post and a worthy one; the green revitalization of the American manufacture industry needs to be discussed and furthered at all possible junctures. When I lived outside of Detroit last fall it was apparent the cars there were dying breeds, weighty American dinosaurs. An innovative, ecologically-efficient vision was needed. That vision could save the auto economy and thousands of jobs. I'm grateful the bigger wigs finally got the idea as well. Here's to sustainable invention permeating our society, moving us all forward with its lift.

Link to the November 1st, 2008 New York Times article "A Splash of Green for the Rust Belt."

Maya Angelou Writing a Poem about Obama

There's an associated press article out today about Maya Angelou beginning to write a poem about Obama. On election night, I wrote one too. I couldn't help but write; I had to keep myself from vaporizing into thrill beams.

The whole night, once the networks were seriously projecting that Obama had won, my cells spun dizzy like thimbles on their edges, dimpled with light. I watched, and was part of, a takeover of the streets in downtown Austin (I'll post a piece I wrote about it soon). We danced, we chanted "Si se puede!" and "Yes we did!" We stopped traffic. I hugged random people. Random people hugged me. Instead of New Year's it was New Era. The world change was booming down upon us and we had created it.

It was the ultimate in feeling one's ability to change the world. If you re-watch Obama's last speech of the campaign, posted here under the heading: "Virginia, let's go change the world," you'll see again the eloquent emotion-journey Barack takes his audience on. He moves from the microcosm to the macro in speaking about one person's ability to change the world (it's very near the end of the speech).

It was this feeling that I could feel on Tuesday night as we chanted in the streets. We all felt part of this victory. We had ownership over the outcome. Most of us had gone beyond just voting: some had driven others to the polls, some had called voters to get them to the polls, some had worked for the campaign for months. But most importantly, because Barack's intention was to empower citizens to feel like change was possible, that empowerment had taken root and threaded through our beings affecting all that we do.

We had changed. The molecules in our bodies had shifted and brightened up with energy. We felt our own power through the mass collective power that had worked together from all parts of the country to get Obama elected. We were all churning towards a common goal of changing the United States and thus the world.

As Obama said in his acceptance speech on Tuesday night:
"This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."

I think that's the heart of this change, working together to elevate the collective. And so we begin...

Visualize President Obama

From: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gsxkmk
(I'm doing this now. This had Anna Sian and I teary-eyed).


Please join us on November 4th and invest ten minutes to one hour visualizing President Elect Barack Obama on inaugural day and being sworn in with Michelle by his side. See the flags flying, hear the crowd cheering! BE in the feeling of joy and celebration of such a triumphant moment.

During the primaries, this event had almost 1200 people signed up from more than 18 countries.

Now it's time to reconvene and use the power of prayer, mediation, focused intent and emotional visualization to bring this thing home.

Please sign up and tell us where you will be during your visualization time. Our last event had people from all over the US as well as from these countries: Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, Australia, Sweden, Germany, Jamaica, Kuwait, United Kingdom, Japan, South Africa, Nigeria, France, Finland, Costa Rica, St. Lucia/St. Kitts, Zambia, Sudan

Remember to let yourself see the inauguration in great detail. Imagine the weather, the motorcade, the world-wide attention, the crowds, the beautiful Obama family on the stage, etc. Allow yourself to FEEL the excitement you know will be reverberating through billions of people around the world. THIS IS OUR MOMENT! THIS IS OUR TIME!

I suggest we do this in two steps:

1. Before you go to bed on November 3rd spend from 10 minutes to 1 hour focused on the inauguration. Push aside any doubts about election day or whether the race will be called any particular time.

2. As soon as you awake on November 4th, before you even get out of bed, just allow the images of the inauguration to flow across the screen of your mind, almost like a dream. Maybe you even imagine the inaugural ball and Michelle and Barack dancing.

Throughout the day, you can return to this image. If you are doing GOTV like me, working the polls, serving as a lawyer to protect voting rights, or simply waiting in lines for AS LONG AS IT TAKES to vote. Be comforted by this image. FEEL the joy of it in your bones.

Remember to remain unattached to how things unfold on November 4th and focus instead on January 20th, 2009 - the first day of the Obama presidency.

Carl Sagan the wizard.

Together with you

The Avatar Professional Course just finished in Orlando, Florida on October 17th. (I’m just now getting to post this). Twelve hundred people from thirty countries came together for one week to learn how to connect to others across many types of borders, how to help others, how to work more efficiently and powerfully, and ultimately to contribute to the creation of an enlightened planetary civilization.

The borders we connected across went beyond countries and languages, to personalities, beliefs and behaviors. We connected as beings, present with each other lovingly. And, everyone was there because they wanted to make the world a better place. Everyone wanted to help others feel better, feel happier, feel more powerful and in control of their own lives. The beauty of that earnest goal, and the fact that 1200 people from all over the world wanted to make the world better (rather than hurt each other, fight, complain, suffer or kill) had me smiling, laughing and crying often.

One of my favorite aspects of the course was the young people there. There were harajuku kids from Japan, techno kids from Israel, former farmers and surfers from New Zealand, girls in kimonos, young monks, German kids with modified mullets, Irish girls in patterned tights and dresses, and American kids in t-shirts. All of us wearing our different national costumes and personality costumes, putting on and playing with different identities. At our cores, it became apparent, all of us humans are limitless beings. We are limitless beings enjoying the playtime of taking off and trying on different viewpoints, life experiences, and goals. In this we have simultaneous individuality and unity.

Over 70,000 people from around the world have gone through the basic Avatar training, over 12,000 have taken the Avatar Masters teacher training course. Avatar’s largest goal is to catalyze the integration of belief systems, to create world peace. “Once we realize that the only thing that separates us is beliefs, and beliefs can be created and dis-created with ease, the right and wrong game will cease, and world peace will ensue.”

I feel forever changed by the experience of looking into the faces of so many people from all over the world, whom I didn’t even know, and connecting with them with ease, smiling and sharing love. There is a lot to be learned there. And, I would add, now that I’ve been back at work for two weeks, there’s a lot we do as humans to keep other people from really knowing us. We do a lot of protecting, avoiding realness and pretending. Let’s change this! Let's begin now.

Soil Lamp

Dutch Design Week is this week in Eindhoven, Netherlands. One design in particular stood out to me as a genius creation and a gratifying reminder of the need for intelligent creativity in contemporary times. The Soil Lamp, designed by Marieke Staps, runs on mud.

From the designer:

Support this designer! The implications of this lamp are great. One can imagine a whole household full of lights running solely on energy created by microorganisms, and even larger appliances running on compost, running on decomposition, passively working for us and for the environment. The lamp is a lovely design as well. The aesthetics of this lamp on their own would be ample to encourage me to buy it, but knowing what it does, makes me want to seek it out across the ocean and get one. The lamp is not yet available for sale, and seems to be still in a prototype stage. The direction Marieke Staps is headed is a great one, and clearly ripe with opportunities. Mocoloco has more coverage of the work at Dutch Design Week.

Harbinger House at West Coast Green

This video shows and explains a really interesting eco-house, Harbinger House, that is made out of re-used shipping containers. It was on display at West Coast Green in San Jose, CA, this weekend. Of particular interest to me is the house's ability to report back remotely to its owner on its electricity, gas and water use. Efficiency! Technology!