Tuesday, March 30, 2004
The Greatest American Hero
My brother recently wrote a song parody of "Believe it or Not," the theme song to that old 80's classic TV series, "The Greatest American Hero." The parody is titled "The Greatest American Zero" and is a fun exploration of what I would call the not-quite-Presidency of Mr. George W. Bush.
If we're lucky, my brother will start recording this and other political parodies and start selling them on iTunes. :) Until then, the reference to a beloved childhood TV show that I haven't thought of in a long time helped to trigger a blog entry.
For all of my life, I've simply LOVED superheroes. It started in preschool when I said that I wanted my future profession to be Superman [instead of the usual replies of Firefighter or Astronaut]. This love of Superman eventually developed into a love of the Avatar from the Ultima series, a love of real-life efforts to help others, and a liking of just about any superhero who's at least somewhat well-developed as a character.
As I was surfing the net to relive my childhood enthusiasm for The Greatest American Hero, a thought occured to me. I'd probably be much healthier and happier if I adopted HIM as my role model rather than Superman, the Avatar, or any of the other superhuman superheroes out there!
For those of you who don't know the story, the Hero was just some schoolteacher named Ralph Hinkley who was given a special superhero suit by aliens so that he might save humanity from self-destruction. He lost the alien instructions though, so he and his ad hoc partner [FBI agent Bill Maxwell] often ended up bumbling around doing the best that they could to make good use of this gift.
What I like about this Hero is that he's just an ordinary guy.
My first favorite superhero, Superman, is by definition a superhuman being who is anything but ordinary. My favorite superhero when I was older, The Avatar, started out as a more or less human character, but grew less so as the Ultima series progressed. In other words, I was idolizing superhuman characters as my role model. This was wonderful in terms of inspiring me to help and serve others, but surely had a lot to do with my eventual extreme burnout.
In other words, my heart was with Superman, but my body couldn't quite fly or bend steel.
Now that I realize that, it's been good to look back at one of the truly human superheroes from my childhood. Yes, in the short duration of this series, the Greatest American Hero did help a lot of people and perform extraordinary feats. But all along, he was really just some guy named Ralph who had a life, a job, a significant other, and his own human vulnerabilities.
They don't have the series available on tape, DVD, or even cable, but maybe I'll be fortunate enough to catch a few episodes of it again someday! It may inspire me to put on my Super Anarchist costume and make another public appearance... :)
0 comments
If we're lucky, my brother will start recording this and other political parodies and start selling them on iTunes. :) Until then, the reference to a beloved childhood TV show that I haven't thought of in a long time helped to trigger a blog entry.
For all of my life, I've simply LOVED superheroes. It started in preschool when I said that I wanted my future profession to be Superman [instead of the usual replies of Firefighter or Astronaut]. This love of Superman eventually developed into a love of the Avatar from the Ultima series, a love of real-life efforts to help others, and a liking of just about any superhero who's at least somewhat well-developed as a character.
As I was surfing the net to relive my childhood enthusiasm for The Greatest American Hero, a thought occured to me. I'd probably be much healthier and happier if I adopted HIM as my role model rather than Superman, the Avatar, or any of the other superhuman superheroes out there!
For those of you who don't know the story, the Hero was just some schoolteacher named Ralph Hinkley who was given a special superhero suit by aliens so that he might save humanity from self-destruction. He lost the alien instructions though, so he and his ad hoc partner [FBI agent Bill Maxwell] often ended up bumbling around doing the best that they could to make good use of this gift.
What I like about this Hero is that he's just an ordinary guy.
My first favorite superhero, Superman, is by definition a superhuman being who is anything but ordinary. My favorite superhero when I was older, The Avatar, started out as a more or less human character, but grew less so as the Ultima series progressed. In other words, I was idolizing superhuman characters as my role model. This was wonderful in terms of inspiring me to help and serve others, but surely had a lot to do with my eventual extreme burnout.
In other words, my heart was with Superman, but my body couldn't quite fly or bend steel.
Now that I realize that, it's been good to look back at one of the truly human superheroes from my childhood. Yes, in the short duration of this series, the Greatest American Hero did help a lot of people and perform extraordinary feats. But all along, he was really just some guy named Ralph who had a life, a job, a significant other, and his own human vulnerabilities.
They don't have the series available on tape, DVD, or even cable, but maybe I'll be fortunate enough to catch a few episodes of it again someday! It may inspire me to put on my Super Anarchist costume and make another public appearance... :)
0 comments
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Life and Death
As Winter gave way to Spring this year, I experienced quite an interesting balance of Life and Death.
On Friday, the last official day of Winter, I participated in a Die-In. We held the Die-In on campus in recognition of Saturday's one year anniversary of the Iraq war. The theme was "WMD? A LIE!" If you look at the picture, I'm the dead body that forms the up-and-down part of the letter "L."
Lying dead on the concrete for an hour gave me plenty of time to meditate on the natures of death and war. Even though playing the part didn't require any physical acting other than laying still, I did my best to radiate compassion and sorrow over all of the lives lost in the senseless brutality of war. I also thought about friends and loved ones who have had their lives touched by war and the military. It was a powerful experience -- and I could hear discussion sparked around me, so I feel that the demonstration definitely went some distance toward achieving its purpose of raising consciousness about the war.
Then on Saturday, the day of the Spring Equinox, I celebrated life! In the morning, I got to walk to work through a wonderful Spring rain -- an experience that would have annoyed many, but which I took as a wonderful experience of the dawn of Spring. Then at 6 PM, I gave a presentation about LIVE FOODS at the Interfaith Center!
The presentation was called "Our Living Earth: The Ecology and Ethics of Live Foods." In this presentation, I started by talking about various forms of conscious eating -- vegetarianism, veganism, raw foods, etc. Then, I went on to offer a definition of live foods that seeks to transform our very society with its life-affirming characteristics. Ideally, these are foods that are not only raw, vital, and healthy, but also bioregional, permaculturally grown, and harvested in a socially and ecologically friendly manner. Simply by defining live foods so thoroughly and ecologically, I hope to create a way of lving that naturally improves the world's ecological health as much as it improves our own personal health. That's synergy for ya!
I've already been hearing positive responses to the presentation, and community members have thanked me for what I have to share. Therefore, I'm happy to say that I feel like the presentation was a success! What a way to start the new Spring, eh? I've spoken in public more than a few times before, but this was my first professional speaking engagement. Now that this has gone well, I feel that much more confident in finishing up my book and working on a career in writing, public speaking, and possibly teaching.
These two events allowed me to experience and communicate the sorrow of death and the abundance of life. This movement from death to life was quite an appropriate way to recognize Spring Equinox -- and I didn't even plan it that way! It just goes to show that sometimes synchronicity reveals the significance of the season.
After all of that was said and done, I met with fellow Wiccan to celebrate Ostara [Spring Equinox] in a more private and personal way. That, too, was a wonderful experience -- more so than I could describe in this blog entry.
So, even though we've had one last cold spell set in today, I still feel that Spring has sprung in a wonderful way for me. I'm feeling more alive and active by the day, ready to learn and grow through the actions and relationships of the coming months. As all of the newly sprouting seeds in my life begin to take root and grow into the sunshine, I'll be posting more about them here soon.
0 comments
On Friday, the last official day of Winter, I participated in a Die-In. We held the Die-In on campus in recognition of Saturday's one year anniversary of the Iraq war. The theme was "WMD? A LIE!" If you look at the picture, I'm the dead body that forms the up-and-down part of the letter "L."
Lying dead on the concrete for an hour gave me plenty of time to meditate on the natures of death and war. Even though playing the part didn't require any physical acting other than laying still, I did my best to radiate compassion and sorrow over all of the lives lost in the senseless brutality of war. I also thought about friends and loved ones who have had their lives touched by war and the military. It was a powerful experience -- and I could hear discussion sparked around me, so I feel that the demonstration definitely went some distance toward achieving its purpose of raising consciousness about the war.
Then on Saturday, the day of the Spring Equinox, I celebrated life! In the morning, I got to walk to work through a wonderful Spring rain -- an experience that would have annoyed many, but which I took as a wonderful experience of the dawn of Spring. Then at 6 PM, I gave a presentation about LIVE FOODS at the Interfaith Center!
The presentation was called "Our Living Earth: The Ecology and Ethics of Live Foods." In this presentation, I started by talking about various forms of conscious eating -- vegetarianism, veganism, raw foods, etc. Then, I went on to offer a definition of live foods that seeks to transform our very society with its life-affirming characteristics. Ideally, these are foods that are not only raw, vital, and healthy, but also bioregional, permaculturally grown, and harvested in a socially and ecologically friendly manner. Simply by defining live foods so thoroughly and ecologically, I hope to create a way of lving that naturally improves the world's ecological health as much as it improves our own personal health. That's synergy for ya!
I've already been hearing positive responses to the presentation, and community members have thanked me for what I have to share. Therefore, I'm happy to say that I feel like the presentation was a success! What a way to start the new Spring, eh? I've spoken in public more than a few times before, but this was my first professional speaking engagement. Now that this has gone well, I feel that much more confident in finishing up my book and working on a career in writing, public speaking, and possibly teaching.
These two events allowed me to experience and communicate the sorrow of death and the abundance of life. This movement from death to life was quite an appropriate way to recognize Spring Equinox -- and I didn't even plan it that way! It just goes to show that sometimes synchronicity reveals the significance of the season.
After all of that was said and done, I met with fellow Wiccan to celebrate Ostara [Spring Equinox] in a more private and personal way. That, too, was a wonderful experience -- more so than I could describe in this blog entry.
So, even though we've had one last cold spell set in today, I still feel that Spring has sprung in a wonderful way for me. I'm feeling more alive and active by the day, ready to learn and grow through the actions and relationships of the coming months. As all of the newly sprouting seeds in my life begin to take root and grow into the sunshine, I'll be posting more about them here soon.
0 comments
Monday, March 01, 2004
Tree Day
I've decided to declare today Tree Day. Today, tomorrow, and the next day -- from this point forward, EVERY day is Tree Day!
No, I'm not being narcissistic here. When I say Tree Day, I'm talking about those wonderful plants that were the inspiration for my name. Today they inspired me once again as I spent an hour or more on campus playing in the branches of my favorite tree, who I call Leaning Oak.
Leaning Oak is an oak tree on the edge of Campus Lake here in Carbondale. Due no doubt to some catastrophic incident in the forgotten past, this tree leans out over the lake with its trunk almost parallel to the water's surface. This allows me to walk out on the trunk as though it were a pier. The tree's hold on the shore looks rather precarious -- but those roots go much deeper than the eye can see. Leaning Oak has held fast to the mud of that shore for at least the few years that I've been coming to visit.
Since today was a wonderfully warm and sunny day, I decided to go out and visit my old friend Leaning Oak. After walking through campus barefoot -- a feat which turned a few heads -- I set my sandals and the contents of my pockets under a nearby tree and walked out onto Leaning Oak.
It's hard to describe to an outside observer how wonderful I feel when climbing a tree. I feel like some part of the experience harkens back to the days before history, when my ancestors' ancestors used to live in the boughs of these powerful beings. My muscles may still be weak and tight from a lifetime of living in an alienating human-sculpted environment, but when I'm in that tree, I can feel at least a hint of my biological potential. I hang, swing, stretch, sit, and just feel the texture of bark against my hands and feet. I leave all of this physical exertion feeling more energized than ever -- and I know that as soon as I have another moment of good sense, I'll be back for more.
Just think -- the whole world can be like this again! We can live in communities that integrate edible permacultural forest gardens into our living space. It would help us to heal not only the Earth, but also ourselves.
If you're into this sort of thing and live in my area, let me know. I'd like to start a permacultural garden here in Carbondale so that we can begin growing some portion of our own food in a very ecological manner.
In the meantime, I do wish that people would be more respectful of Campus Lake and Thompson Woods! My poor friend Leaning Oak had three or four fishing lines tangled in its branches, and I picked up a few beer cans on the way to writing this entry. I encourage people to enjoy what little living resources you have in your community -- and when you're out there playing, don't be surprised if you feel called to pick up a few pieces of trash too. Enjoying and respecting these existing treasures will empower you to help in the long journey of creating an ecological society.
0 comments
No, I'm not being narcissistic here. When I say Tree Day, I'm talking about those wonderful plants that were the inspiration for my name. Today they inspired me once again as I spent an hour or more on campus playing in the branches of my favorite tree, who I call Leaning Oak.
Leaning Oak is an oak tree on the edge of Campus Lake here in Carbondale. Due no doubt to some catastrophic incident in the forgotten past, this tree leans out over the lake with its trunk almost parallel to the water's surface. This allows me to walk out on the trunk as though it were a pier. The tree's hold on the shore looks rather precarious -- but those roots go much deeper than the eye can see. Leaning Oak has held fast to the mud of that shore for at least the few years that I've been coming to visit.
Since today was a wonderfully warm and sunny day, I decided to go out and visit my old friend Leaning Oak. After walking through campus barefoot -- a feat which turned a few heads -- I set my sandals and the contents of my pockets under a nearby tree and walked out onto Leaning Oak.
It's hard to describe to an outside observer how wonderful I feel when climbing a tree. I feel like some part of the experience harkens back to the days before history, when my ancestors' ancestors used to live in the boughs of these powerful beings. My muscles may still be weak and tight from a lifetime of living in an alienating human-sculpted environment, but when I'm in that tree, I can feel at least a hint of my biological potential. I hang, swing, stretch, sit, and just feel the texture of bark against my hands and feet. I leave all of this physical exertion feeling more energized than ever -- and I know that as soon as I have another moment of good sense, I'll be back for more.
Just think -- the whole world can be like this again! We can live in communities that integrate edible permacultural forest gardens into our living space. It would help us to heal not only the Earth, but also ourselves.
If you're into this sort of thing and live in my area, let me know. I'd like to start a permacultural garden here in Carbondale so that we can begin growing some portion of our own food in a very ecological manner.
In the meantime, I do wish that people would be more respectful of Campus Lake and Thompson Woods! My poor friend Leaning Oak had three or four fishing lines tangled in its branches, and I picked up a few beer cans on the way to writing this entry. I encourage people to enjoy what little living resources you have in your community -- and when you're out there playing, don't be surprised if you feel called to pick up a few pieces of trash too. Enjoying and respecting these existing treasures will empower you to help in the long journey of creating an ecological society.
0 comments
