Laura

Tropical storm Laura passed through town today ~ in her hand was a pre-paid attorney's plan. Looks like someone's in for trouble ~ I’m not going to go into that now however. We had breakfast at IHOP. Although she prefers the hot salsa heuvos rancheros at Rose’s ~ so do I for that matter ~ my stomach won’t allow it. Afterwards we collapse into lounge chairs on the deck ~ she plays a CD she bought from a singer she saw performing at the airport in Austin ~ Amanda Lepre ~ a folk rock artist who plays a mean guitar [see video below]. We talk about life in Austin ~ and how US drug policies are turning her trips to Mexico into some kind of obstacle course ~ where military checkpoints send her back and forth to get the proper visas and identification to continue her trip south to the town of Monterrey ~ where she was born and raised for god-sake.

KT Tunstall

There and back

I walk a lot ~ Arroyo beach is only ten minutes by car ~ Romero canyon fifteen ~ where I go depends on my mood ~ it doesn’t matter to my dog ~ both places are pretty cool. One day I wondered what it would be like to just walk out the door ~ and keep going. I found trails leading up the steep hills behind me ~ some great athletic fields at the high school down the road ~ and a whole new world of smells for my dog. So today, we head for the hills ~ pass the funky little houses ~ say hello to Marlene ~ and run into Hawaiian Joe ~ we share a little smoke ~ he heads home ~ and I change my mind and head for the high school ~ figuring it’s flatter and better suited to my revised condition. I walk across the athletic fields ~ and do a 100 yard dash across the spongy grass of the football field ~ going “hey, this isn’t so bad ..!” I run up and down the bleachers a few times ~ sit on the rim ~ and it occurs to me, the way things do when I’m high ~ the reason I love coming here is because it feels so liberating ~ I’m not confined to a narrow trail ..! I take a 360 degree look around ~ and there are, like, more than a dozen different directions I can go ~ each one an interesting way back home. There are woodsy areas ~ funky little residential alleyways ~ and it blows me away. I’m stoked by the opportunities afforded me when I’m not behind the wheel of an automobile.

Morris

The telephone wakes me ~ Roman says he found a sweet deal on PC’s ~ Dell has lowered the price of desktops with XP ~ which is good to hear because Adobe CS 2 won’t run on Vista ~ and I’m a cheap bastard ~ I tell him to email me the quotes and hang up. I’m drifting back to sleep when I wake with a jolt ~ I forgot to check-in for jury duty last night ~ so I’m dialing and hoping they don’t do jury selection on Friday’s ~ they tell me to report at 8:30 ~ it’s almost 8:00. I pop a couple vitamin C ~ walk down Anapamu street (because it’s closer than parking) ~ stop at Starbucks ~ enter the courtroom and sit in a panel so large, I wonder if Michael Jackson is back in town. They tell me it’s gonna be a three month trial ~ I tell them I have workshops scheduled in October and I’m excused. I go to the library to read the paper and I meet someone named Morris. He’s talking with clients and members of his technical staff on a laptop. We go outside and chat ~ he’s riding a recumbent bike and I go: “are you on the road ..?” and he goes: “no, the high seas”. I find out that his boat is moored in the harbour for repairs and next week he’s sailing to San Francisco to meet with clients in the bay area. I’m like: “looks like you’ve taken the place out of workplace” ~ and he’s like: “ ..yeah, I’ve taken the work out of it too.”

Shoot out

When I hear about innocent people getting gunned down on the streets of a border-town (see Ciudad Juarez) ..I don’t immediately think of ‘those damn drug traffickers’ ..I think of the US legislators who persist in keeping drug laws on the books ..making smuggling a high risk venture ..commanding high prices for it’s contraband .. enriching drug lords so they can afford private armies to protect their ‘illicit’ enterprise .. and out-gun local law enforcement officials in charge of fighting this fruitless war on drugs. I don’t think it’s the bullet that kills ..it’s a chain of command that begins at the head.

Summertime

Images flash by like scenes from Mad Hatter’s ride ~ one moment we’re sitting on a bluff overlooking the ocean ~ next moment we’re swimming through a school of silver fish ~ we dry out on a sandy beach and follow the strand toward State Street ~ inline skaters streak by leaving jet trails behind ~ outdoor vendors fill the marketplace ~ selling strawberries the size of pomegranates ~ everyone smiles as they pass by ~ discount dude offers me a deal I can’t refuse ~ I look around but Jim’s disappeared ~ a group of performers, dressed like wolves, are creeping up the street ~ they got silver hair, spiky teeth, pointy finger nails and long coat tails ~ handing out free CD’s by a group called Jezebel ~ one comes up to me licking blood off of her fingers ~ Jim pulls me away ~ and we enter a theater under renovation ~ on stage a woman, wearing a long black dress and work boots, plays Mozart on the violin ~ next, we're sitting on the pier at midnight ~ playing chess ~ drinking wine ~ slamming pieces down and hurling insults each time.

Johnny

Johnny is a successful entrepreneur ~ he had an idea ~ took it to investors and attorneys ~ and created one of the first online social networks for entrepreneurs like himself ~ however, you won’t find him on there ~ he’s uncomfortable with people ~ except when collaborating on a project ~ then he’s awesome ~ I got to know John a bit ~ he’s pretty accessible ~ I was surprised to learn that both his parents were drunks ~ it reminded me of how some kids learn to live inside their heads ~ where they calmly sit and watch shit pass ~ and they learn that shit always passes ~ and finding a safe point of re-entry is most assured ~ so they move in and out of both worlds without much difficulty.

Fire update

The monks are doing well today ~ tired but well ~ it's hot and windy ~ and they’re on constant fire watch. Funny, they say they're under mandatory evacuation orders ~ as well as hard road closures (?!) ~ which means that, even if they wanted to ~ they're not getting out ~ and no one is getting in ~ they have plenty of supplies ~ the water system has been slightly damaged, but they are getting 5 gallons a day from it which is enough. I sit and think they're going to be OK.

Click on photo to enlarge.
Report from Tassajara. Photo courtesy of ZenCenter.

Tassajara

The atmosphere is still unstable ~ winds shift and flames whip around the Zen center from all sides ~ things may be quiet on the coast ~ but not for the monks at Tassajara ~ unsure which direction the fire will advance ~ they have strategically placed foam packs and sprinklers on the roof ~ jury-rigged from garden supplies the week before ~ but the fire breaches the perimeter on the north side ~ torching the bird house, a compost shed, a wood shed and the pool bathroom ~ the radio-phone and half of the lower garden are also destroyed ~ the sprinkler system keeps working ~ humidity arrives ~ and the flames retreat ~ sparing the rest of the monastery ~ so the monks take refuge ~ for now anyway.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Reports from Steve Harper on the coast and the monks at Tassajara ~ Photo courtesy of ZenCenter

Priscilla Ahn

Cyber space

I instant message a group of friends ~ we meet on MySpace ~ go to MyRoom ~ watch videos on YouTube ~ drink a case of Ethernet beer ~ and watch our blood alcohol levels sky-rocket on a WindowsIndexBox. After crushing beer cans on top of our avatar-image heads ~ we stumble down MyStreet ~ hijack a transport pod ~ take it to MyDesertedIsland.com ~ blow up a couple of virtual oil tankers (you can actually do that) ~ then watch gas prices soar on a WindowsIndexBox. We lay down on a sandy beach ~ and listen to Priscilla Ahn play the ukulele song on iTunes. I feel wasted and I can't find my way home.

Frontier logic

When the Big Sur fire burned down to ‘Apple Pie Ridge’ ~ just above town ~ a couple of locals stopped it. The Curtis brothers set a controlled burn which saved their home ~ and created a firebreak that spared the town. A fire captain told them they did a great job ~ a crew chief said their work was ‘awesome’ ~ then a forestry official had them arrested ~ saying only firefighters are allowed to do that. Now, I’m no Joe-Frontiersman ~ but I think the Curtis brothers had it right ~ if there’s a fire threatening my house ~ and no firefighters around to save it ~ I believe that makes me the Deputy.

Raw Footage

Local circuit

I duck down a side-street ~ past a row of funky-looking bungalows that lead to the County Bowl (SB’s Greek theater) ~ along the way I stop and chat with Marlene who tells me she saw the Alison Krause/Robert Plant show ~ and boy did they sound sweet ~ I go to the new Bowl entrance ~ that replaced the old chain-link fence ~ that I could get in to ~ but not anymore ~ everything’s wrought-iron and stone now ~ no big deal ~ I’ll go to the football field ~ I pass the adobe box office ~ where LucindaWilliamsBenHarperBlackCrowes catch my eye ~ then across a busy street ~ through the tennis courts ~ up to the high school ~ across the round-about in front of the stately-looking building ~ where I locate the path to the stadium ~ which looks like a bowl too ~ I jog across the spongy field ~ up and down a few steps ~ sit on the rim ~ catch my breath ~ watch the sunset ~ feel a sundowner wind ~ see smoke coming from the canyon ~ and wonder when I’ll run into Roberto again.

Fire update

Steve Harper in Big Sur says that the drizzle they were expecting this morning did not come ~ he’s disappointed but goes on to say: “I ~ as much as anyone ~ knows that nature will do what nature does ~ it’s not personal ~ except for the consequences ..” The Monterey Herald says the Big Sur fire grew significantly overnight ~ a thick blanket of fog and smoke covers the town today ~ and there’s no let-up in sight ~ no more properties were lost but the density of undergrowth keeps the fire moving closer to town ~ “sending forest creatures running to the ocean for cover.” Gordon Wheeler at Esalen says: “Big Sur is not just a place ~ it’s a state of mind ~ a spiritual essence that people feel ~ and that fire cannot destroy.” The monks at Tassajara say the fire hasn't moved much closer to them ~ and it’s a cool morning ~ a fire incident report says: ‘Isolated pockets of surface fire with occasional tree torching and moderate behavior due to higher relative humidity.’ A Zen practitioner says: “..fire has always been part of the karma of Big Sur ..it’s a perpetual cycle of cleansing and renewal.” In Santa Barbara, the sundowner winds arrived last night causing the fire to grow to about 5,400 acres ~ this morning it was so fierce that firefighters had to take refuge in the homes they were fighting to defend ~ it is burning in a canyon full of century old chaparral ~ 15-20 feet tall ~ I like to tell my neighbors we’re breathing the ashes of our ancestors ~ they just look at me funny.

Fire update

The sundowner wind didn’t develop last night ~ thank goodness ~ but the fire doubled in size ~ it’s about 2,400 acres now ~ I detect a slight onshore breeze ~ which is a good sign ~ the weather forecast says that ‘monsoonal moisture’ is a possibility ~ an even better sign ~ I go online to check on my friends in Big Sur ~ Steve Harper says 3 houses were lost last night above Ventana inn ~ and the fire burned down to apple pie ridge ~ but locals managed to stop it ~ then an amazing thing happened, he says ~ the forecast changed drastically from what was predicted ~ and from what is normal ~ to a slight chance of drizzle tonight and tomorrow ~ with marine air coming from the west and northwest ~ which is good new for the folks in Big Sur ~ but bad news for the monks at Tassajara Monastery ~ where the winds could push the fire deeper into the wilderness ~ and closer to them ~ and I’m like ‘sure hope the drizzle Steve sees on the coast travels far enough inland to reach the monastery’ ~ meanwhile, I’m sitting under dark amber-orange smoke ~ that’s billowing ~ getting darker ~ and covering the sky ~ because the wind has shifted direction in the time that I’ve been sitting here ~ it's turned from an onshore breeze into a ‘Santa Ana’ condition ~ blowing from the mountains to the sea ~ and turning daytime into nighttime a lot earlier than usual ~ it looks like Armageddon ~ I am outta here.

Fire update

I’m getting news about the Big Sur fire from a laptop on my deck ~ the Monterey Herald says hundreds have fled their homes as flames blaze out-of-control ~ my friend Steve Harper says neighbors were calmly evacuated so fire fighters could do a controlled burn ~ another friend, Bill Herr, says he could see flames above Esalen for the first time ~ and an occasional pine combust into a tower of fire ~ and John Callaghan just learned that sheriffs have served mandatory evacuation orders ~ everybody must be out by 6 in the morning ~ and at Tassajara, monks say the fire is still burning but hasn’t gotten any closer ~ I look away from the laptop ~ and realize the sun has been blotted out by a dark shade of amber ~ and I’m like what the fuck ~ I shake my head hoping my eyes are playing tricks on me ~ showing after-images of the Big Sur fire that I’ve just spent the morning watching ~ no such luck ~ I call Michael who says there’s a fire burning above Santa Barbara ~ Glen Annie Canyon in Goleta to be exact ~ and a Sundowner wind is expected tonight ~ like a Santa Ana wind in LA ~ it’ll blow hot air and fire out of the canyons and down the coastal side of the mountains where all the homes are ~ so it looks like I’ll be spending the night tracking wind reports ~ because I certainly won’t be getting any sleep.

Image: Smoke over rooftops in Santa Barbara