In the morning I wake up, get ready for work, and walk up the hill where the pyramid meets Powhattan. The Powhattan are the Native Americans who helped the first Western settlers survive starvation in North Carolina.
Then I walk up Esmeralda Street. Esmeralda is the gypsy that the hunchback of Notre Dame loves. From there I arrive at the intersection where Esmeralda meets Alabama. I like that, because Alabama defeated Notre Dame in the university football championship right after I moved in. Notre Dame's mascot is the Fighting Irish, and Alabama's is an elephant, even though they're called the Rolling Tide. In India, the elephant represents Ganesha, who is the remover of obstacles and patron of arts and letters. Also, the character Forrest Gump is from Alabama, as is Edward Bloom, the hero from one of my all-time favorite movies, Big Fish.
From there I walk along Cesar Chavez Street. Cesar Chavez once said:
Then I greet the Mission. I walk the Mission, about eight blocks, passing a beautiful mural of the Pyramid of the Sun and eventually find the underground train. I ride the train to the Civic Center, and return to the sunlit Earth at United Nations Plaza. If I turn around I see a building that has a glass pyramid with an American flag on top. To the left of that is a wall that says "TRUTH".
I walk past the Asian Art Museum to a large square with City Hall on the opposite side, and Bill Graham Auditorium on the left. Bill Graham created the Fillmore West. I saw Further and Sigur Ros there a few months ago. During winter there was an enormous Christmas tree in the middle of the square. I turn right before I walk by the Hall of Justice and turn right on Polk Street. James K. Polk, the president who popularized the term "Manifest Destiny." I follow this destiny until I enter Golden Gate Avenue, where I arrive at work.
Today we had the Michigan Test, which is a placement test to determine if the students belong in my class or the highest level class, which is taught by a woman far more organized and by the book than I am. The last time the students took the class, which happened to be my first day visiting while observing the teacher I would replace, one of them qualified to move up to the next level, but chose not to, probably because she had so many friends in the class.
Once class began, the Japanese secretary informed me that they were actually evaluating me too today, for half an hour before the test started. That was a surprise, so I smiled and told them to be nice and then escaped to the teacher's printing room.
Once there, I printed out copies of one of my favorite poems of all time, "Last Thought on Woody Guthrie" by Bob Dylan. I changed many of the words to blanks so that we could use it as a listening exercise: I would play the poem twice, and the students would practice listening and fill in the blanks. Before I could print them all out, the secretary came to get me and tell me they were finished evaluating me, and the test was ready to begin. The test only took an hour, and then we had our break.
Upon returning from the break we commenced our pot luck feast. It was one of the student's final classes, so we all brought in some food and chowed down for a while.
Then I began the poetry exercise. I explained to them the many meanings of the word "folk," who Woody Guthrie was ("this land is your land, this land is my land... this land belongs to you and me"), and then explained who Bob Dylan was, although some of them already knew. If you don't know, Woody Guthrie was the rambling singer-songwriter who found his style during the Great Depression and wrote his biggest hits during the 1940's. He emitted an aura of rustic grit with love for his fellow common man. He is the father of Arlo Guthrie, and influenced many more rock artists, from Bruce Springsteen to Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. Bob Dylan, originally born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, was mentored by Woody and tried his best to emulate him at first. After Bob was already big, Woody was sick in the hospital, so Bob wrote this five page eight-minute poem about him, and read it in New York City's Town Hall on April 12, 1963.
I told the class that I first heard this song in New York City almost six years earlier when I was feeling down and my friend played it for me. About a year later I was feeling the same way, so I got on the subway, walked to a bookstore near Union Square, and saw a book called The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. I opened it up and read the following lines:
The jacket said the story was about a common shepherd boy who went on a magical journey to the pyramids. I was in a cynical mood, so I thought it looked stupid and I put it back. Then I walked up 5th Avenue until I came to the intersection with 33rd street. I looked up at the Empire State Building, sat down on the curb--despite the foot traffic around me--and listened to "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie" by Bob Dylan and then "Striving For Perfection" by Wu-Tang Clan.
I didn't mention The Alchemist or Wu-Tang to the class, just the part about the poem and the Empire State Building.
Then I started the song. Bob obviously talked too fast for their ears, so I told them that this wasn't a test as in the morning, and to not worry about filling in all the blanks. Just focus on listening. I played it twice, and then we reviewed the entire poem. I explained the slang to them and the context of each line within the overall theme.
Basically, Bob was complaining about two things: shallow fake people and the inherent struggles of life. The latter is unavoidable and must be dealt with somehow, and the former is completely avoidable but sometimes appears not to be that way and can steal your time and energy away from you when you could be focusing on all of the great opportunities for truth and joy which love constantly provides.
When I returned to America, I was so thrilled about seeing God in as many forms as possible that I put together a plan to hitchhike across America to San Francisco, and then eventually the pyramids in Mexico. Then again, those two "finish lines" were merely bonuses, because all I really wanted to do was see the Grand Canyon at sundown. I did.
Then I walk up Esmeralda Street. Esmeralda is the gypsy that the hunchback of Notre Dame loves. From there I arrive at the intersection where Esmeralda meets Alabama. I like that, because Alabama defeated Notre Dame in the university football championship right after I moved in. Notre Dame's mascot is the Fighting Irish, and Alabama's is an elephant, even though they're called the Rolling Tide. In India, the elephant represents Ganesha, who is the remover of obstacles and patron of arts and letters. Also, the character Forrest Gump is from Alabama, as is Edward Bloom, the hero from one of my all-time favorite movies, Big Fish.
From there I walk along Cesar Chavez Street. Cesar Chavez once said:
"There is no substitute for hard work...
and
there is no substitute for patience and acceptance."
Then I greet the Mission. I walk the Mission, about eight blocks, passing a beautiful mural of the Pyramid of the Sun and eventually find the underground train. I ride the train to the Civic Center, and return to the sunlit Earth at United Nations Plaza. If I turn around I see a building that has a glass pyramid with an American flag on top. To the left of that is a wall that says "TRUTH".
I walk past the Asian Art Museum to a large square with City Hall on the opposite side, and Bill Graham Auditorium on the left. Bill Graham created the Fillmore West. I saw Further and Sigur Ros there a few months ago. During winter there was an enormous Christmas tree in the middle of the square. I turn right before I walk by the Hall of Justice and turn right on Polk Street. James K. Polk, the president who popularized the term "Manifest Destiny." I follow this destiny until I enter Golden Gate Avenue, where I arrive at work.
Today we had the Michigan Test, which is a placement test to determine if the students belong in my class or the highest level class, which is taught by a woman far more organized and by the book than I am. The last time the students took the class, which happened to be my first day visiting while observing the teacher I would replace, one of them qualified to move up to the next level, but chose not to, probably because she had so many friends in the class.
Once class began, the Japanese secretary informed me that they were actually evaluating me too today, for half an hour before the test started. That was a surprise, so I smiled and told them to be nice and then escaped to the teacher's printing room.
Once there, I printed out copies of one of my favorite poems of all time, "Last Thought on Woody Guthrie" by Bob Dylan. I changed many of the words to blanks so that we could use it as a listening exercise: I would play the poem twice, and the students would practice listening and fill in the blanks. Before I could print them all out, the secretary came to get me and tell me they were finished evaluating me, and the test was ready to begin. The test only took an hour, and then we had our break.
Upon returning from the break we commenced our pot luck feast. It was one of the student's final classes, so we all brought in some food and chowed down for a while.
Then I began the poetry exercise. I explained to them the many meanings of the word "folk," who Woody Guthrie was ("this land is your land, this land is my land... this land belongs to you and me"), and then explained who Bob Dylan was, although some of them already knew. If you don't know, Woody Guthrie was the rambling singer-songwriter who found his style during the Great Depression and wrote his biggest hits during the 1940's. He emitted an aura of rustic grit with love for his fellow common man. He is the father of Arlo Guthrie, and influenced many more rock artists, from Bruce Springsteen to Jeff Tweedy of Wilco. Bob Dylan, originally born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, was mentored by Woody and tried his best to emulate him at first. After Bob was already big, Woody was sick in the hospital, so Bob wrote this five page eight-minute poem about him, and read it in New York City's Town Hall on April 12, 1963.
I told the class that I first heard this song in New York City almost six years earlier when I was feeling down and my friend played it for me. About a year later I was feeling the same way, so I got on the subway, walked to a bookstore near Union Square, and saw a book called The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. I opened it up and read the following lines:
"Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do,
when you really want something,
it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe.
It's your mission on Earth."
The jacket said the story was about a common shepherd boy who went on a magical journey to the pyramids. I was in a cynical mood, so I thought it looked stupid and I put it back. Then I walked up 5th Avenue until I came to the intersection with 33rd street. I looked up at the Empire State Building, sat down on the curb--despite the foot traffic around me--and listened to "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie" by Bob Dylan and then "Striving For Perfection" by Wu-Tang Clan.
I didn't mention The Alchemist or Wu-Tang to the class, just the part about the poem and the Empire State Building.
Then I started the song. Bob obviously talked too fast for their ears, so I told them that this wasn't a test as in the morning, and to not worry about filling in all the blanks. Just focus on listening. I played it twice, and then we reviewed the entire poem. I explained the slang to them and the context of each line within the overall theme.
Basically, Bob was complaining about two things: shallow fake people and the inherent struggles of life. The latter is unavoidable and must be dealt with somehow, and the former is completely avoidable but sometimes appears not to be that way and can steal your time and energy away from you when you could be focusing on all of the great opportunities for truth and joy which love constantly provides.
You'll find God
in the church of your choice
You'll find Woody Guthrie
in Brooklyn State Hospital
And it's only my opinion
I may be right or wrong
But you'll find them both
in the Grand Canyon
at sundown
Three years ago today I found God at the pyramids in Egypt
I had a wisdom packet with me
The Alchemist was first
I'd found God many places before, but that time was... wow.
When I returned to America, I was so thrilled about seeing God in as many forms as possible that I put together a plan to hitchhike across America to San Francisco, and then eventually the pyramids in Mexico. Then again, those two "finish lines" were merely bonuses, because all I really wanted to do was see the Grand Canyon at sundown. I did.
I listened to
the poem
I listened to Sigur Ros
I listened to the wind
I
listened to my heart beat in synchronicity with the sun
and realized
we're all one
and man, that sure was a lot of fun
Bonnaroo Music Festival gates open today
Bonnaroo means "really good time"
Bonnaroo means "really good time"
It's not a place. It's a state of mind.
So live it up to the max and find what you will find
Learn to be rough and tough and smooth and kind
Follow your bliss forever wherever the path may wind
And you will feel the glow which all your heroes shined
Everywhere is Bonnaroo
Waiting to be loved with U
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