Gertrude

My Great Grand- mother was born in 1900, so we always knew how old she was by what year it was. This photo was taken at my uncle Mike's house in a tiny town called Mounds, Oklahoma. We called her "Na-Naw" (doesn't everyone have strange phonetic ways to differentiate (great) grandparents?), and she lived most of her life in Miami, Oklahoma—the city in which I was born.

Better off than Walton

Yesterday, Wal-Mart heir John Walton was infinitely better off than you. Today you are infinitely better off than John Walton (you're also a lot richer). Country's eleventh richest man killed in plane crash... yikes.

Another child was eaten by a shark yesterday. Please note: your chances of being eaten by sharks or immolated in jet fuel are significantly reduced by REMAINING ON LAND. I repeat: if you don't have fins--stay out of the ocean, and if you don't have wings--stay out of the troposphere. Duh.

HANG IN THERE MR. CHIEF JUSTICE. HANG IN THERE YOU TOUGH OLD NERD.

The Great Recycle

What do these have in common: Bewitched, Batman, War of the Worlds, Herbie, Fantastic Four, Charlie & Chocolate Factory, Star Wars, Bad News Bears, and Longest Yard? They are all new offerings from The Great Recycle. Recycled things, especially narratives, contain elements that resonate in our weltanschauungen. There is something familiar, something we know, something we care about in the recycled. Secure a copy of the song Totally Hooked by Peter Presta (get the more than a vocal mix). Encoded therein please find some new lyrics, some new melodies, a massive computer, and some new beats. The new unfamiliar chords won't evoke much on your first listen, but when the 'more than a feeling' chorus comes in, you'll feel it, viscerally. Listen to it as loud as you can... and you'll get The Great Recycle. We recycle because we love the things we know.

Pride 2005

The plague of mankind is the fear and rejection of diversity: monotheism, monarchy, monogamy and, in our age, monomedicine. The belief that there is only one right way to live, only one right way to regulate religious, political, sexual, medical affairs is the root cause of the greatest threat to man: members of his own species, bent on ensuring his salvation, security, and sanity. - Thomas Szasz

At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time. - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

I'm ambivalent about Pride. I've never liked the name--as I can no more imagine being proud of my sexual orientation than I can of having disconnected ear lobes. I had no say, nor hand in the matter. Imagine a poker player exposing his freshly dealt flush and remarking "I'm so proud of this hand." Only screwy people take pride in things over which they have no control. That aside, I love the unstoppable massiveness of the crowd. A synergy occurs in crowds: 1+1=2, 2+2=7, etc. The air is electrified. I suppose that's part of the thrill of sports.

More impressive to me than the parade is its remediation. A chain of 20+ gigantic streetsweepers thunder down Broadway--sucking up every trace of the whole affair. I'm proud of the way my apartment looks, and that's about the extent of my pride. Pride is a slippery and dangerous emotion. We're all more or less schmucks in the dark... be nice to the other schmucks.

Horseback Avec Nephew & Sister

Horseback in Kiefer, Oklahoma, with my nephew and my sister. Forgive me mom, I should know these horse's names, but I don't. I grew up surrounded by horses, and never thought very highly of them, so I'm always mystified by how my city friends ooh and aww over them. If anyone wants to go riding, my mom has barns full of horses and is always looking for someone to share the trail with.

The Definition of Cool:

cool (kūl)

adj., cool·er, cool·est.

1. Neither warm nor very cold; moderately cold: fresh, cool water; a cool autumn evening.
2. Giving or suggesting relief from heat: a cool breeze; a cool blouse.
3. Marked by calm self-control: a cool negotiator.
4. Marked by indifference, disdain, or dislike; unfriendly or unresponsive: a cool greeting; was cool to the idea of higher taxes.
5. Of, relating to, or characteristic of colors, such as blue and green, that produce the impression of coolness.

SYNONYMS: cool, composed, collected, unruffled, nonchalant, imperturbable, detached. These adjectives indicate absence of excitement or discomposure in a person, especially in times of stress. Cool usually implies merely a high degree of self-control, but it may also indicate aloofness: “Keep strong, if possible. In any case, keep cool. Have unlimited patience” (B.H. Liddell Hart). “An honest hater is often a better fellow than a cool friend” (John Stuart Blackie). Composed implies serenity arising from self-discipline: The dancer was composed as she prepared for her recital. Collected suggests self-possession: The witness remained collected throughout the questioning. Unruffled emphasizes calm despite circumstances that might elicit agitation: “with contented mind and unruffled spirit” (Anthony Trollope). Nonchalant describes a casual manner that may suggest, sometimes misleadingly, a lack of interest or concern: He reacted to the news in a nonchalant manner. Imperturbable stresses unshakable calmness usually considered as an inherent trait: “A man … /Cool, and quite English, imperturbable” (Byron). Detached implies aloofness resulting either from lack of active concern or from resistance to emotional involvement: He sat through the service with a detached air.

The usage of cool as a general positive epithet or interjection has been part and parcel of English slang since World War II, and has even been borrowed into other languages, such as French and German. Originally this sense is a development from a Black English usage meaning “excellent, superlative,” first recorded in written English in the early 1930s. Jazz musicians who used the term are responsible for its popularization during the 1940s.

The Golden Temple of Amritsar

One of my ten favorite holy sites on earth. The primary sacred shrine of the Sikhs. The lake around the Temple was enlarged and structurally contained during the leadership of the fourth Sikh Guru (Ram Dass, 1574-1581), and during the leadership of the fifth Guru (Arjan, 1581-1606), the Hari Mandir, or Temple of God was built. From the early 1600s to the mid 1700s the sixth through tenth Sikh Gurus were constantly involved in defending both their religion and their temple against Muslim armies. The Temple was repeatedly destroyed by Muslims, and each time was rebuilt more beautifully by the Sikhs. The temple's architecture draws on both Hindu and Moslem artistic styles yet represents a unique coevolution of the two.

Cloning My Childhood Pet

My childhood pet, Bear. Bear was an Australian Shepherd, which (as everyone who's had one knows) is one of the smartest dog breeds on the planet. Because he was my first pet, I took for granted how smart he was. I globalized his behavior, thinking that's just how all dogs were. WRONG. Most dogs are idiots. If you ever find yourself in the dog market again, do whatever it takes to get an Australian Shepherd. I know exactly where this dog was buried on our farm in Oklahoma, and as soon as pet-cloning becomes affordable, I'm definitely going to pay for a twin of this dog, and I've already decided on its name: Re-Bear.

Mother Teresa And Me

In 1996 I worked for Mother Teresa. I lived in Calcutta, and worked in both Kalighat, and Shishu Bhawan. I was so young, and so worn out. Calcutta is a tough place. After Calcutta I moved to Dharamsala, where I volunteered for the Dalai Lama in the visitor center. I love India with all my heart, and I miss Mother Teresa. She was quite a woman.

My First Day Working For Mother Teresa

Here is the front door to the Mother House. I'll never forget when I landed at the airport in Calcutta, and crawled into the back of a taxicab. I asked the driver if he knew where Mother Teresa's headquarters were (that was such a stupid question), "Of course" he said, "would you like to be going there?" Uh, why not? He drove me to 54 A, Lower Circular Road, dodging the cows which lolled lazily in the middle of the roads. I walked about 30 steps down a dirty, non-descript alley to this door. I was prepared to be met by armed guards, body searched, and told Mother Teresa was in some other country visiting presidents and monarchs. Rather, Sister Nirmala met me at this door and invited me into the parlor. "Wait here" she said, "Mother will be down at five o'clock." To my utter astonishment, Mother walked into the parlor at five o'clock, and told me God had sent me to India to work for her. Thus began my relationship with this Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

Ode to TSE

No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous--
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old... I grow old...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.

Solitude

Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.

Galt's Gulch

"When she opened her eyes, she saw sunlight, green leaves and a man's face. She thought: I know what this is. This was the world as she had expected to see it at sixteen—and now she had reached it—and it seemed so simple, so unastonishing, that the thing she felt was like a blessing pronounced upon the universe by means of three words: But of course." I Love Dagny Taggart.

Hollywood Florida

Sitting on a rail at the beach in Hollywood, Florida. This was taken right before I moved to Orlando for Film School, and right after summer in the Hamptons with Scott, Wendy, and Tina. Wow, I looked so good with hair.

I Am. I Think. I Will.

The question is not who's going to let me. The question is who's going to stop me? A thing is what it is.

Gandhi Sculpture India

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right. - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi