tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33232261433344231272012-02-12T21:53:39.224-08:00I mean, who can really figure this stuff out anyway?Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-44443578134846051822012-02-12T21:53:00.000-08:002012-02-12T21:53:39.234-08:00

So, needless to say, I haven't written in a while. In truth I've been finding myself kind of resistant to it lately. It's a combination of things like spending more and more free time painting (such as the piece here) But it's also been a time of more reflection after all that has gone on the last few years. I focused so much on writing about what was happening that now it's been nice to just

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-84832537435526753302012-01-13T20:15:00.000-08:002012-01-13T20:15:02.176-08:00

To A STRANGER Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you, You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me as of a dream,) I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you, All is recall'd as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured, You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me, I ate with you and slept with you, your

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-21064527136708599922012-01-11T01:53:00.000-08:002012-01-11T01:53:17.848-08:00

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-15798311379983473622011-12-15T08:27:00.000-08:002011-12-15T08:27:16.712-08:00

Here is my last post on the Civil Beat blog...

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-28545720258010649122011-12-11T21:42:00.000-08:002011-12-11T21:42:31.749-08:00

The ageless before me continue to weep, the wounds of the world still fresh on their minds. But these hurts pour forth-- lines, notes, words... You call them "music, art"... We call them our lives. Of the colors that bleed through my veins, none become visible without one simple heart stroke. I could not be cut off, removed from myself, any more than I could not write you.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-59849719140580341792011-11-27T16:06:00.000-08:002011-11-27T16:06:43.390-08:00

Silence is the mantra bearing me along what seems an endless, pause-filled night. Each breath a mark in time to the sky's movement towards dawn, ticking towards my next hope. And like the unopened bloom hidden in still morning's shadow, I await the embrace of return, When I see the sun once more.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-67501289689860419262011-11-25T10:16:00.001-08:002011-11-27T16:08:23.336-08:00

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-6404223722470388242011-11-22T17:14:00.000-08:002011-11-22T17:14:04.436-08:00

Wisdom watches the flowing sands, Abiding within this container, Turning over with each repetition Of timeliness and completion; Impressive by the hour, Leaving indelible traces. Yet these wisdom marks Are best left to the books, Where they contain and sustain, And something resembling A touch on my mind can be Brought forth. But I break from the glass, No longer drowned in the sands; I am

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-32203255343128692742011-11-20T01:27:00.001-08:002011-11-20T01:27:09.394-08:00

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-10542488630430789212011-11-16T10:52:00.000-08:002011-11-16T10:52:58.767-08:00

This is the written version of a speech I gave to 250-300 people at the Statewide Homeless Awareness Conference in Honolulu just yesterday. The spoken version naturally added some more emphasis and I lost my place a few times. But the gist of it is here: Some of you may know me through my writings on Civil Beat entitled, “Un-homed, But Not Un-hinged,” although more recently it shifted to “

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-34055150074000051502011-11-14T11:48:00.001-08:002011-11-14T11:48:30.920-08:00

Had I not seen the Sun I could have borne the shade But Light a newer Wilderness My Wilderness has made -- Emily Dickinson

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-37461194820231747052011-11-09T16:19:00.000-08:002011-11-09T16:19:56.794-08:00

I've decided to revive this blog now that the un-homed portion of life is complete (at least I hope so...). I'll write about more things in my view of life and take it from there. In the meantime some photos never posted from various wanderings.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-58470623198337540162010-12-13T13:05:00.000-08:002010-12-13T13:05:23.818-08:00

Well it finally came through: i have a column/blog on Civil Beat. Here is the link to the first article. http://www.civilbeat.com/posts/2010/12/13/7300-un-homed-but-not-unhinged/ It's a subscription site so don't worry I will still look to keep up with thoughts and musings here as well. But the Civil Beat column ought to be an interesting look at life on the edge of success and failure. More

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-74902827747410687462010-12-05T19:05:00.000-08:002010-12-05T19:05:31.505-08:00

Living on the edge is definitely a constant struggle. Though it may not be as bad as completely being homeless I can't help but wonder whether it's worse. You still feel connected to the other side- stability, "success" by some definition- that you carry layers of denial, shame, doubt, and so many other factors in the mind. So much of it is buried in where you came from, reaching all the way

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-33080104444963609502010-12-01T15:50:00.000-08:002010-12-01T16:44:51.389-08:00

Well, I'm back from a fine meditation retreat. Nothing like a little concentration and mindfulness practice to clear the mind. Of course not to say that every moment was peaceful: pain in the back, restlessness wanting to be somewhere else, day-dreaming... LOTS of that going on actually!! But the over-arching result was a good pat on the back and personal "well done." That's as it should be.What

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-72454399700245950772010-11-23T11:37:00.000-08:002010-11-23T16:32:37.600-08:00

I have often been accused (yes, ACCUSED!!!) of being very patient. Most often by people who only know me peripherally in some way. So lets dispell this myth right here and now. If any doubts just make me go grocery shopping: The land where people walk in the door and stop just there to get their bearings without thought to who else needs to use the door; where people will stop right at the

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-10903037347159264342010-11-15T23:20:00.000-08:002010-11-16T11:43:45.502-08:00

So we talked about looking backwards, and coined the term "hinder-sight." So it is only fair to put some brain juice to looking forwards as well (especially since we got the request!). In this case I started to ponder what is the hang up on future plans? In my thinking it's expectation and assumption. We generally just automatically feel that any plan we put into action should result in the

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-48479795997774015562010-11-12T22:59:00.000-08:002010-11-13T12:49:18.526-08:00

Well, I sort of remember the beginning of this promised topic. Of course the direction it was supposed to take was definitely lost to the dream time. As it is the beginning only took shape cause I was still awake enough. Everything else I thought "no need to get up to write anything down. This is so cool I will certainly remember it!" Riiiiightt.So what was intended is this, 20/20 connotes having

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-58381473557157077762010-11-12T04:16:00.000-08:002010-11-12T04:24:52.850-08:00

This was the brilliant title for my next post that occurred to me just before falling asleep last night. And of course the content seemed a brilliant direction to go in. (By the way, does it happen to you too that when you talk to yourself in your own mind you are always so brilliant? But then in the real world interactions something gets lost in translation? Just wondering...) But of course now

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-2856143353984206622010-11-07T22:31:00.000-08:002010-11-08T11:40:15.115-08:00

This is something we've all said at some point, and it's very easy to say when things go awry. Whether in personal relations, business issues, health, school... you name it and that phrase pops up sooner or later. I know I've said it several times a day over the last few years. I've been baffled more times than not. On one hand there's plenty that we can take honest responsibility for, but on the

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-41212132316068934512010-11-03T13:58:00.000-07:002010-11-03T14:48:39.507-07:00

Happy to say that going to court this morning had a good outcome. Back in September I had received a few tickets for some trivial things that could have been overlooked by a compassionate officer, but no. Instead I faced $400 in fines at a time when I'm counting change out of the basket for lunch. Fortunately, having resolved the things in a timely fashion the judge accepted my explanations and

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-85573914361244541852010-11-01T23:42:00.000-07:002010-11-02T23:21:52.656-07:00

I looked it up and predicament comes from Latin roots "to proclaim." I'm gonna have to stew on that one for a while as that doesn't seem to tie in with my understanding of a "WTF?" moment. But none-the-less there is something to say for proclaiming your place in the world no matter the good or bad. That's true for what karma really means, you own up to what is happening and take responsibility

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-22606631983401307282010-11-01T14:35:00.000-07:002010-11-01T15:03:41.533-07:00

Those of you who know me have heard me say the phrase "karma larma ding dong" often enough. Some of you have a sense of what karma is, while others simply hear a catchy phrase of sorts. But there is a meaning behind this for me.Karma is certainly hard to fathom in its full complexity, and no, I don't think of it as a judgement for/against past actions. It simply is what it is, and if you've been

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-21553592071204981792010-10-29T21:10:00.000-07:002010-10-29T22:51:04.322-07:00

It's finally time to revive my blog. Been a while but seems like the right time.So there I was, sitting in my van- my white, slightly rusty, 1995, soccer-mom van- when the phone rang. It was my friend with a suggestion to write a blog about recent turmoil that has led me to my present circumstances. His rationale was that I find myself in an interesting predicament and people might readily

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-48785676337855458102008-10-22T20:23:00.000-07:002010-10-29T20:45:57.338-07:00

A picture here is worth about 10,000 words.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-48962139279943020302008-10-10T16:45:00.000-07:002010-10-29T20:47:13.207-07:00

Be safe and not cynical. In honor of another group who were trying to do the right thing but were faced with too much cyncism I put this photo in. The monks in Burma taking to the streets for fairness and being met with indecency. We can't keep playing this game this way here in the US.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-53703906235861715492008-10-08T17:08:00.000-07:002008-10-08T17:17:01.344-07:00

This is like one of those moments when you can imagine the makers of the National Debt Clock saying: "14 spaces for numbers? Pshaw! Who would ever need that many spaces!"Or a bit like Dr. Evil asking for $1 million in ransom and the 60's military on screen laughing and saying: "There isn't that much money in the world!"Yeah we always assume it can never get worse, and when it does bite us in the

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-76861369974973355342008-10-07T00:53:00.001-07:002008-10-07T00:53:43.418-07:00

The Tale of How from Shy the Sun on Vimeo.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-49365547630857879352008-09-22T17:27:00.000-07:002008-09-22T18:37:05.975-07:00

There is a debate I am often find myself in the midst of, and that is the difference in life lived based on symbolism or literal interpretations. Another way to slice it is pattern observation vs. a search for mechanisms.I'm reading a book called The Year of Living Biblically, by A.J. Jacobs. Basically it recounts his attempt to live a whole year by following the Bible as literally as possible.

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323226143334423127.post-33304489275727126152008-09-19T23:55:00.000-07:002008-09-23T12:12:50.200-07:00

I have a varied background. As such a bit of a Renaissance Man: artist, acupuncturist, herbalist, nanny, teacher, CEO, meditator. I have traveled to many parts of the world and yet still reside in Hawaii first and foremost- home.The art came first and still defines all that I do; from current work to finding creative solutions to business issues. Though dabbling in various mediums I am a painter

Joehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12466726557791923017noreply@blogger.com