Kind of nervous about this project but somehow it feels like a good (or important) idea so here we go… &/or just watch :).
I deal with #MECFS a complicated complex and chronic disease (see below).
After diagnosis eight years ago (2013), I was kinda ground-up by then-local (Vancouver, Canada) medical system through challenging and ill-advised therapies, a litany of dangerous medications and laborious uneventful tests. Plus my entire life seemed to fall apart… ugh. As such I set out on a meandering journey seeking to figure out what was up with my body and brain and try to find a way forward. Continue reading Healing Ramble: #MECFS journey to Thailand, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and onwards→
Still life with postcards, inky stamps, cup of tea, bowl of nuts / was making up for some poor decisions at the time by (trying to) spread love out into the world. Hope it worked. Did you receive one of these treats?
(excerpt of poem – written by me – read at Kemp and Sheila’s wedding vow ceremony)
really unrelated snap, as it goes a tea shack in Sri Lanka
Now, all is deliciously possible A present to savour A history to grow A future to whittle To any possible shape
So, How shall we fill this vessel?
Devoid of cynicism and ego, Jealousy or restraint With rambunctious affection In all possible forms To manifest and articulate Unabashed tactile Love.
Shall we fill with endless notes Of spontaneous jazz and Distant gazes from close range? Slow dances to quick songs Languid mornings following Smouldering nights?
Celebration of the commonplace? Anticipation of usual happenstance? Easy banter about nuanced topics? On verandahs and gazebos a like Replete with warm drinks And cool touch?
With fond hellos and Infrequent goodbyes As we seek nowhere to go Desire no escape In darkness and rain All yearnings were sent away
Marrow and soul Now have a purpose, a place A place to dwell With you, always As together we fill This vessel Full.
– daveo, Pokhara, Nepal 2017 (photo: Sri Lanka, 2018)
I stayed in Sri Lanka (near Galle) for a while doing some Ayurvedic treatments, drinking tea and wondering wtf i was doing etc. As such, i made an address stamp for ease in my copious correspondence, usually performed at a tea shack down the road.
Sri Lanka / writing letters at the tea shackSri Lanka / tea at the tea shackSri Lanka / tea shack as seen via Ggle Maps Street ViewBonus: Sri Lanka / postal stamps (cancelled)Artifacts: Sri Lanka / ink address stamp
couple Canadian classic with Farley Mowat atop Wade Davis’ Serpent and the Rainbow
Books are my pals, even since a kid – and sometimes books (by circumstance or convenience) are stashed at mysterious locales around the world.
Sometimes, i snap pics of the cache for future reference, sometimes they go to little /free libraries, sometimes into my “Liberated Literature” program.
Regardless, sometimes, the bookcases and/or contents are captured for memory of spending time with friends in a still-life of sorts. As such, this dossier of evidence.
Ed’s final piece was stashed at Sensei Larry’s house since who knows when…
In this round-up is an assortment of books gathered here and there / sometimes used, sometimes new and sometimes re-collecting from someone’s house where the tome has fermented awaiting my pickup.
Some have recently re-arrived (i assume) to me in present day (April 2020) and are waiting to be unloaded from a box and placed lovingly on a shelf.
This little book appeared in prep for (now cancelled) Jack Kerouac preso and is driving directions for the roadtrip chronicled in OtR using Ggle Maps driving directions – a fun remix idea!
Letters from the “Dr” which are more prescient now than ever.
Picked up a Beat Museum looking forward to actually digging in.
50th anniversary documentary from the noted (and recently sold) Vancouver arts and culture weekly.
This one sent to Sooby in NJ (acquired in Sri Lanka).
Such a solid in-depth primer for Middle East history (though wasn’t meant to be that per se)
Batch 2 of festive greetz away from the main downtown Okayama postoffice!
And technically, this post box is just for mailing New Year’s cards within Japan, so the pedantic ones amongst you need not point this out… Festive display made for a pleasant photo.
The overall count was smaller than batch one however several bonus super-deluxe envelopes of treats in the mix.
Destinations include: Germany, UAE, Scotland, Sri Lanka, … and the usual USA / Canada locations.
Such fun applying the stamps and interacting with the post office staff as so many folks are in preparing and mailing New Year’s cards.
This lil elf dropped off 80-ish new year cards into the hopper.
as i recall, this machine was at a school near Dikwella, Sir Lanka but truthfully i am not completely sure – pretty good hunch though – am i incorrect? please inform me. regardless, a noble, well-kept Aristocrat machineWhat follows is a round-up/collection of typewriters I either purchased, used, or simply observed along the way on various wanders.
Significantly, this collection contains images of several machines which ended up in sundry folders, drives and dossiers etc about which i am not entirely sure of the origin. This is important to point out as i don’t want to mistake someone else’s photo or whatever, but simply cannot recall but… since i kept the image, there is some significance which may not be revealed until later (at which point, i’ll dutifully update).
Additionally, if your photo is included, please do let me know and i’ll update.
Regardless, assembled here for historical / archival reference and personal interest, with annotations where possible.
Olivetti in Marty’s backyard in Provo, Utah – seen elsewhere in this archive, the poor neglected machine was left out in the rain and snow and now is a garden ornament rather than a typer – shared here for an example of what not to do to your machine
Record Player: near Dikwella, Sri LankaRecord Player: Fort Galle, Sri LankaRecord Player: Fort Galle, Sri LankaRecord Player: Fort Galle, Sri LankaRecords: Fort Galle, Sri Lanka
Tending to horse race wager forms (in between naps)Train station (Galle) cargo officeWriting desk (filled with useful items) and rice fieldsWalking a cow past house
Post’d: Round-up of letters and post making, mailed from Sanur, Indonesia, 2019
Sure, i mail a lot of cards and letters and dossiers of ephemeral treats, poems and painting. Especially to folks who have inspired me or otherwise lent a hand, and to folks (know and unknown) who seem to need a little spark to help them along their journey.
oh! the be an explorer… (envoys to distant lands)
As part of my semi-obsessive documentation for my memory and amusement, i assemble photos (likely) enthusiastic correspondents send of their received items, along with “still life” photos of postal-related items or post-in-process, and often just scenes of post offices/workers/boxes.
a card to 3 of my fave youths
Often times these items are organized chronologically-ish somehow, or maybe to a theme, but some cases (including this instance), neither applies and what follows is simply a batch of odds and ends hanging out for another cycle into the world.
Generally an absence of annotations as the meanings either aren’t meaningful or rather self-evident (that said, maybe some annotations will appear). Carry on, bring your own stamp.
a unpacked dossier with painting, poem, goat propaganda and a letter , stickered up envelope
