out of town

i will be in san jose for five days visiting martha and steve, flying early on new years day. it is always a delight to visit with them. the body of water project is still progressing, but not completed. it is so much work but going to be wonderful. january and february are busy months ~ i will be on bbsradio.com again january 12, saturday night at 7pm, a fireside chat with the zany mystic. my friend patrick will be in town for ten days staring the 19th and it is art week in los angeles leading up to my birthday. i have feng shui workshops in february, los angeles and berkeley are planned... and am hoping to teach in other places also. before that is the pottery show in pasadena... and after that i am in dallas. each and every thing will be wonderful. what an abundance of wonderfulness! happy new year! and get yourself on my calendar if you want some face time!

the naked poet

charles rosenberg, dj at the standard hotel, nutritionist and gardener, vintage clothing and decorative arts expert, and friend... was perusing a used bookstore when he happened on a copy of the naked poet by gavin dillard and, for obvious reasons, peaked inside. he was greeted by four lines of my poetry. and bought the copy for me. i have not seen or even heard from gavin in years and years. but having once seen him, you have been spoiled to look on anything else. gavin and i met at a reception for exene cervenka (x) back in the eighties... she was reading poetry at an underground los angeles club, henry rollins was there also... it was quite the scene! gavin and i became attractive friends ~ he attracted to my (unclaimed) talent, i attracted to his (undeniable) beauty. we planned several projects together (child harold at the zoo ~ my writing, his drawings ~ was one) but nothing ever manifested ~ his backers were more fronters. he wrote me often from various places but our lives crossed less and less as the years passed. the naked poet was published in 1989 with a dedication to christopher isherwood (who liked one of gavins ditties, but then who didnt?) and four lines from my lost book, flowers of ecstasy, to launch it. he made a spectacular splash (emphasis on spectacle since he always gave his readings in the nude) and brought people who had never read a poem to poetry readings. it may be they have still not read a poem... but they bought his book. and one of those ended up in charles rosenbergs handy hands this many years later. and now into mine. what a walk down amnesia lane! charles rosenberg is one of those people who knows everyone who is cool and knows every cool thing that is happening in town. and he knows me! he is quite a journalistic writer and reviewer and has worked for many respected magazines. we have tried many the vegetarian restaurant together and enjoyed company and conversation. the low point of our relationship happened when he was writing for los angeles magazine and my meditation class was named the chattiest meditation class in la (which it may be). he did not write it ~ his cunt editor did, changing his succint prose about my esoteric class without his knowlege. the high point of our relationship was having cocktails one evening at the standard hotel while he played music. my friend millie was there too. we were all dressed. but it was sheer poetry.

to see my poetry: http://royanthonyshabla.com

peace on earth, peace in heaven

i made bob help me put a new peace poster on the front of the house -- it looks so fresh and clean. the photos of the peace posters on the website date to the end of 2005 and the spring and summer of 2006... and i was posting peace posters as graffiti years before i put them on my own house. so its been over two years that great minds dream alike posters have been on the front of my house, some of the other posters on the side of the house were not documented. and i have been selling the t shirts longer... i do want to make a new set of t shirts soon, 2008 will be an important year.

congresswoman julia carson died today of lung cancer. she was the first woman and the first black to represent indianapolis in congress. she was an outspoken opponent of the iraq war and before the 2003 invasion told a rally of her constituents that the war was an act of aggression to secure oil for american business. but nobody did anything.

when alan greenspan made the same statement this year, there was a little buzz. but once again, nobody did anything.

somtimes i think the american populace is made up of sleepwalkers. if awake, everyones house would be covered with peace posters. and the white house would be covered with stones.

what have you done today to save the world? for peace posters, t-shirts, etc: http://royanthonyshabla.com

art art art

body of water, the handmade book i am currently working on, has been taking up more and more of my time. there are so many aspects to it (letterpress printing, filmmaking, handmade paper, painting) all needing to be coordinated and juggled. i am teaching myself to paint with water colors to do an original cover for each letterpress booklet. it is more difficult than other media. the handmade paper is coming from a couple sources and has been quite a negotiation. special cudos to seth at dick blicks in berkeley. the printer and bookbinder has been silent and tardy... i may need to fly up to berkeley to get things moving. the film editor has been great, doing a better job than i expected... we still need to coordinate the soundtrack... and print artwork on the dvds. and the portfolios for it all have to be made by hand... and the copies are beginning to sell.

until galleRoy.com is available, go to royanthonyshabla.com for info on my art: http://royanthonyshabla.com

peace on earth

my daughter hadley and her best friend mazzy and our family unit planted trees in san pedro along one of the main streets this morning with tree people, one of the most worthwhile groups i know. the volunteers were represented by various ethnic groups, ages, and incomes and city staff as well as tree people all pitched in together. it was hard work and fun and the kids really got into the idea of saving the planet. and they got the experience of saving the planet as a community. each tree is named after it is planted and the last two put into the earth today were called "hadley" and "mazzy". now my daughter has a personal involvement with the future of the planet. and i have a sore body!

the wind and rain has removed the last peace poster from my house. these 5 to 7 foot posters have been on the front and side of my house regularly for almost two years now, ocassionally being replaced. the side of my house faces a church parkinglot so the good word has been given to the needy.

and how we need! in colorado, a young guy shot and killed people at a christian youth mission and a mega church. he is said to have come from a very religious family and hated christians. in baltimore, 9 black teenagers harassed, beat up, and dragged a white woman from a public bus. there is no mention of how the bus driver responded. in california (is this a red state or a blue state?) an episcopal diocese seceded from the episcopal church because of the ordination of a gay bishop. in case you dont know, if you have to have a christian around, let it be an episcopalian. they are like catholics with common sense. they are progressive, tolerant, activists for peace and the environment, and generally more intellectual. they have female priests. they have married priests. they are not fundamentalists. and yet this diocese in california is behaving like a fundamentalist church. even the catholic church allows gay bishops. the legal battles which will ensue may ruin the episcopal church as a whole. if the episcopal church folds, the christian religions will soon be headed by mel gibson. whats a thinking person to do? yahweh sure loves to stir the pot!

i dont even need to comment

KHARTOUM, Sudan (Nov. 29) - A British teacher in Sudan was convicted Thursday of the less-serious charge of insulting Islam for letting her pupils name a teddy bear "Muhammad," and was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation to Britain, one of her lawyers said. Gillian Gibbons could have received 40 lashes and six months in prison in the case if found guilty of the more serious charge of inciting religious hatred and given the maximum penalty.

A court in Sudan on Thursday convicted British elementary school teacher Gillian Gibbons, here in an undated photo, of "insulting the faith of Muslims" for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad.

In London, the Foreign Office said it was "extremely disappointed with the sentence," adding that Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador to explain the verdict.

Gibbons, 54, was arrested Sunday after complaints to the Education Ministry that she had insulted Prophet Muhammad, the most revered figure in Islam, by applying his name to a teddy bear. She was found guilty of "insulting the faith of Muslims in Sudan" under Article 125 of the Sudanese criminal code, a less-serious charge than the original count of inciting religious hatred, said Ali Mohammed Ajab, a member of her defense team. The charge later was confirmed by a judge who was leaving the closed court session.

"I feel this is very serious and very unfair," Ajab told The Associated Press outside court. Ajab, who also works for the Khartoum Center for Human Rights, said the issue was raised by "hard-liners who are always trying to make some noise," in an apparent reference to religious conservatives. Ajab said his center would appeal the verdict.

Gibbons' employer, Robert Boulos of the Unity High School, called it "a very fair verdict.""She could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation," Boulos said.

He noted that she would only spend 10 days in prison, having already served five.

Gibbons is expected to serve her sentence in the Omdurman women's prison near Khartoum.

Religious conservatives in Sudan were outraged by the naming of the teddy bear, and defense lawyers reported receiving death threats. "I am threatened, that's why I'm carrying a gun in court," defense lawyer Abdel Khalig Abdallah said, opening his coat to reveal a revolver during a break in the trial.

crazy like a muslim

Teacher Arrested for Naming Teddy 'Mohammed'

Posted Nov 27th 2007 8:27AM by Ada CalhounFiled under: Islam, Children, Controversy
A British teacher at a high school in Sudan, Gillian Gibbons, 54, was arrested on blasphemy charges for allowing her six- and seven-year-old students to name a class teddy bear "Mohammed," says the Telegraph. She was interrogated for five hours, according to the Daily Mail, and the teacher now may face forty lashes and six months in prison. Protests against Ms. Gibbons, a divorced mother of two, have broken out all over Sudan and the school has been closed through January to prevent retaliation.

dont they name their children mohammed? this is one of the more ridiculous religions!

the christian response: the first blog called for a christian jihad to bomb the muslims off the face of the earth. the next was a guy who said he wanted a tattoo that said "islam is for fags!"... which of us is the more enlightened culture?

body of water

the body of water project is taking more time, energy, and money than expected. it is becoming very labor intensive but should be quite beautiful. seth, a great kid at dick blicks art supply in berkeley has been helping with paper problems, above and beyond the call of duty. jessica, the film productionist in hollywood, has been great and wonderful and creative. richard, the printer, hasnt been in contact... might have to send him an email... and i am painting painting painting...

until galleRoy.com is available, go to royanthonyshabla.com for information about my art: http://royanthonyshabla.com

and the rush is on.

the holiday season is upon us. and the frenzy has begun. i have always hated the holidays ~ even as a child i didnt like them... the holiday frenzy seemed like an awful lot of ugly work just to get a few gifts. but children can be our healing of the holidays. having a child of my own makes the season wonderful ~ she is excited about the decorations, the events, the foods, the gifts, the gifts, the gifts... she isnt so attached to the gifts... she is more interested in opening them than having them. the holiday season is also made much easier by not giving gifts to adults. the wise men brought presents for the baby jesus (remember all that?) not for mary and joseph (although what a baby was gonna do with a bag of gold and a couple bottles of perfume i dont know...). so treats for the kids and festivities for all. i got elizabeth up off the couch yesterday and we went for a dash to find some kids gifts and did quite well before the crowds arrived in the evening. cowboy jackets and cocktail dresses... toys will have to be another time. maybe madonna has it right ~ she is a kabbalist now and only celebrates the jewish high holidays (less hubbub, small gifts). i wonder how her kids are doing with the switch... but since children are our healing of the holidays, i wonder how madonna is doing with how her kids are doing with the holidays... a grandmother in scotland took her daughter to court because the daughter refused to allow her to see the grandchildren. the grandmother had been giving the children too much candy and soft drinks and sneaked it to them even after the mother disapproved. the court gave the grandmother visitation rights for two hours a month with the prohibition of giving the children sugar. now she will have to think of some other gift. what kind of christmas will they have?

my last post on atheism

pbs has a three-part essay on atheism called a history of disbelief. i watched the last episode on sunday night and was impressed by the small-minded approach given to such a vast subject. it was not only a history of atheism but a sentimental personal monologue of an atheist. the movement seemed outdated in the 19th century and hasnt changed much in the 21st. what disturbed me about the show was that there seemed to be no differentiation between "not believing in the existence of god" and "not believing in the validity of religion"...the two ideas seeming interchangeable and irrevocably linked. silly atheists. just because the christians, jews, and muslims are ridiculous doesnt mean there is no god. thats not even logical ~ and logical is what the atheists say they are. the other thing that is interesting is that the show made no attempt to delve into any esoteric or contemplative religion thus illuminating the entire atheist movement as a mere reaction against christianity. if you cant find problems with the bible as the word of god then you havent read it. that doesnt mean there is no god, that means the bible (as it is presented) is a sham. there were references to a beautiful pamphlet written by percy byshe shelly but once again, that was a reaction against religion, christianity and the bible, and not an argument against the existence of god. in this information age, the intelligent minds of the atheists dont seem open enough to research the existence of god beyond the bible. it is always being said, "so-and-so brought yoga or zen or chinese medicine to the west, to america" but these philosophies have been exported from asia for hundreds of years. 19th century atheists could have converted to the great atheist religion: buddhism. if they had done their research. in the 20th century, science proved the existence of god (without religious nonsense) through the experimentation of einsteins theories. do your research. and in the 21st century, science and spirituality are merging into a real and honest relationship. nothing to do with intelligent design (which had no intelligence to it and was a poor design) but an appreciation of the amazing common ground they share. in india, a 33 year old man just married a stray dog to release himself from a curse. the dog was dressed like a bride and a ceremony and wedding feast ensued. the entire town participated. the news did not report what the wedding night entailed or if the man had plans to marry a human in the future. would he get divorced first if he did? how can you not have a special place in your heart for religion after such a story? my new favorite movie is lars and the real girl where a guy, through the compassion of the small town where he lives, works through an emotional healing of relationships via the delusion that a latex sex doll is his girlfriend. (the town doctor is played by an amazing actress and the part was written perfectly for her.) the entire town participates in their relationship, the joys and the sorrows. this is what the divine is, the group participating as one. how can you not have a special place in your heart for god after seeing such a movie? atheists are sure missing a lot.

its the end of the world as we know it

i wonder what people think of the end of the world, why they fear it, why they prepare for it... there is a christian sect in a wasteland in russia that has holed itself up in a cave until the end of the world. they predict the end of the world will come in may. personally, i would wait until the end of april to be roughing it in a cave... but thats just me. i mean: a wasteland in russia in winter is bad enough ~ couldnt you just stay home? its probably not too different from the cave... maybe there are curtains but seriously, cold and hopeless is cold and hopeless. the group consists of 29 adults and 4 children. they say the church has gone wrong (im not disagreeing with them but seriously, how sensible can they be? winter in russia in a cave?...) and they threaten to blow themselves up if anyone tries to extricate them. so they would be cheating doomsday by a few months... how different would that be from what they are expecting the end of the world to be? what i dont understand is this: why are they in the cave anyway? wont the end of the world find them anywhere they are? i asked a christian friend and he said that that doesnt make sense, god can find you anywhere. i said theyre christians they dont have to make sense. i imagine they have a bosch idea of the end of the world ~ christians tend to be fanatics and over-dramatize things. hieronymous bosch painted fantastic doomsday scenes depicting the hallucinations of one of the drug-induced, psychedelic chapters of that book they worship. they are fantastic. just fantastic. (FANTASY!) about the destruction of civilization and the cruel judgement of people. maybe this christian cult thinks it will avoid the armageddon if they are not living in civilization at the end of days (what civilization is there in that wasteland anyway? do they get touring exhibits from the museum of modern art? is there a wolfgang puck restaurant?) there are many stories in the folklore of the world about the end of times, most of them are based in fear. hellfire and brimstone, judgement... as a people, we must inherently feel we are bad bad creatures. no matter which side of the fire you think you will go, we must all feel inherently bad to ascribe to such stories of judgement. i prefer to think that no matter how pathetic it is, we are all doing the best we can. and at the end of times, brahma will just close his eyes and that will be it.

for reasonable prdictions: http://blesstheworld.com

money doesnt equal manners

i went to the deep valley to do feng shui work on a house in remodel on tuesday, the valley a frightening experience in itself... but as i started the work, the husband of the house arrived home. quite often, the man of the house is not so interested in my work and it is the wife who solicits me or agrees with the designer to have me come. this is not always the case (my dear clients who are now in dallas are a great example) but usually the man of the house constitutes the difficult part of the work. and this house was a prime example. often the man of the house is avoided as he is at work himself but that fortune was not available on tuesday. and so the dance began. he told me he didnt believe in feng shui; he told me there were dozens of books written on how feng shui doesnt work (can you show me five? one?); he told me that since there were no problems with the construction in an area i told them it was dangerous to work now, none of what i said was valid; he told me that he stayed frequently at the win hotel in las vegas and he never saw anything change (im not sure why he told me that but it was supposed to be negative about feng shui)... and he told me he didnt believe in god. i told him he didnt have to take my advice. but he did have to pay for it. c. c. cooper, their designer and my dear friend (among other things), was embarrassed by his aggressively rude behaviour ~money doesnt equal manners~ and took me for wine and dinner when we left. the wife was very kind and interested in the work. i am not saying she was kind because she agreed with me, im saying she was kind because she was open to agreeing with me. she asked intelligent questions and seemed genuinely interested in the answers. she will implement some of the treatments, he will block the others. a marriage is a "give-and-take". maybe i am single because i just dont like what is given and what is taken. maybe that should be the question for every relationship. and the interesting thing is this: i have found arrogant people never believe in god ~they find no room in the world for anything greater than themselves. humility is inherent in any true belief in the divine. if you were so inclined to create a weed, a dandelion, from what would you create it? well, from a dandelion seed, of course! the problem is, man has never ~in all his great achievements throughout history~ been able to create a simple dandelion seed on his own. and yet some men think they are the master of the universe! well think what you like. you still have to pay for my advice. for some people, money is the only thing they have to give.

for information on feng shui: http://blesstheworld.com

humanity is overrated

i have been out of town for over a week, in the san francisco area for an antiques show, staying with friends. the show was not great but the friends were. we did not sell much and most of what was sold went to dealers, the serious and sophisticated customers from the bay area being all but absent. the friends i stay with near berkeley have a baby whom i call "coconut" who is now almost 1 1/2 years old and smart as a whip. she comprehends and communicates better than i do. the weather was pleasant and crisp and except for the morning fog that caused the hundred-car pile-up, it was the perfect beginning to autumn. returning to los angeles, however, was cold and gloomy. its all about perspective! there were many emails to answer but none from people affected by the recent fires, the only orders for spiritual remedies were unrelated to tragedy. finland had a terrible event today: a sad and beautiful boy took a handgun to high school and killed the principal and seven others before killing himself. he had announced his intention on u-tube... this is reminiscent of the virginia tech tragedy and im sure the heart of america will go out to finland. at both the finnish high school (jokela high school in tuusula finland) and virgina tech university, the gunmen were upset with society. they were disenchanted with the superficiality of modern life and unable to justify our existence. were they dark misguided prophets? its all about perspective. reality television and tabloid journalism drain the light from your soul. and maybe these boys couldnt see in the dark. i understand that disenchantment... and i keep squinting... returning to my friends home after a long day of nobody appreciating my antiques and decorative arts, the coconut greeted me at the door. i said, "you have a bat on your shirt" and she looked at her shirt and pointed to the holloween bat and said, "i do have a bat on my shirt. and look at you!" sometimes you dont have to look far to see that humanity is very underrated.

for hope: http://blesstheworld.com

first aid

i have tried a couple times to write about the california fires but i have no words for it. wifey was evacuated from del mar, cousin alice had to leave fallbrook (take the brownie recipe and run!), and big jeanne cant leave her home without a serious asthma/sinus attack from the smoke in the air. the los angeles area has been host to natural wild fires since before there were people here to lose their homes... and the fires will probably be here long after people are gone. if we are going to live in a place where nature is sometimes inhospitable, we will need to find some kind of peaceful relationship with nature to appreciate the occasional inhospitality. even the best friend is sometimes cranky. there are native plants that only germinate and flower after a fire. hopefully there will be a flowering after this disater. blesstheworld.com always sends the blessthebody.com spiritual remedy first aid to disaster sites to help those in need. how do you help the hundreds of thousands of people directly affected by the fires? you start with what is right in front of you. what i can do is this: every person who shows up to sunday evening meditation class at the blessings center los angeles this week will recieve a free bottle of first aid for himself and another to give to someone affected by the fires. come, meditate, heal.

for spiritual remedies: http://blesstheworld.com

dear god

my daughter is six years old and doesnt believe in god. she does a father proud. not because of her beliefs (which are different than mine) but because of her consideration of her beliefs. she doesnt blindly accept the notion of god without consideration... she is even prepared to go against the conformity of her peers: she asked every child on the playground if he believed in god and each said he did. that didnt sway her from her conviction. and she made no attempt to sway the other children. she just let it be. what a blessing to the world, tolerance! she told me she doesnt believe in god because hes dead. i couldnt be more proud! my baby is an existentialist! and shes not even a teenager yet! the idea of atheism is interesting though. an atheist is someone who defines god in his own terms and then denies the application of those terms. an atheist considers himself logical and yet the defining of and then denying god is illogical. it is an ego-centrical closed circuit with crossed wires. i think atheism is really a vocabulary problem. the definition atheists give to god is too small. and a small field yields a small harvest. the definition atheists ascribe to god is akin to a teapot in the sky or the historical moses. neither is a practical definition of god and so is very easy to deny. in reality, atheists do believe in god just as they believe in the chair they sit on because the chair they sit on is god (my definition). the car they drive is god ~ they must believe in it because it certainly takes them to the "im superior because i dont believe in god" meetings. the leaves changing color in autumn, the laugh of a baby... im so damn syrupy! everything is god! everything. so only a complete denial of existence, a complete denial of self, would allow for the validity of atheism. and atheists are too arrogant to deny themselves... so obviously god exists! and as for my daughter, well shes the best existence there is!

good god

yahweh started his career as a local tribal god, a country bumpkin deity. he was an anger-and-revenge god who specialized in certain tricks: hellfire-and-brimstone, plagues, etcetera... not very spiritually elevated but he was a good businessman. yahweh parleyed the jews into a western-worldwide community and they took him along with them. this is exactly what the old testament of the bible is about. but like jersey mafia, yahweh could wear an expensive suit and have a high rent office but he would always be a thug. he hit the big time with jesus and the christians put him in power over as much of the planet as they could. always, as are his methods, the power was held by fear, violence, and subjugation. it remains so to this day. the muslims have the same god as the christians. he loves the anger energy so much he gets them to hate and fear each other for the mere excitement...

radio head

the radio show went well i guess. everyone raved about it. and i was asked to be back on the show again in december. i think i shouldnt have said i was sitting in my bathrobe wearing a string of pearls... but it was a zen moment and so it shall remain in the archive for all eternity. despite the pearls from the supermarket in hawaii where i had a wonderful vacation with my daughter, there were other pearls... the zany mystic let the show ramble in an interesting freeflowing of ideas and at some point we talked about the presidential candidates and gay marriage. quite an amusing topic actually. amusing because of the ridiculousness of how the smallest minds in the country dictate how the greatest minds will behave. at least politically... but on marriage, these are my ideas: marriage is a contract. on the physical level, that contract is the merging of the assets of two people. on the emotional level, that contract is the commitment to love the other person until one is dead. and on the spiritual level, that contract is the appreciation of the witness of god in the lives of the married couple. usually one or more of those three aspects of the contract dissolves quickly (if it existed at all) but that is another matter. the idea that a government that allegedly has a separation between church and state would have anything more than a voice about the legal details of marriage (such as how old one must be to enter the contract of marriage) is absurd. and yet, like negroes had been in this country, gays are not considered human beings and are not afforded the same rights. it should be that any two people of adult age and somewhat sound mind (because how clear can someone be who actually wants to get married???!!!) could go to an attorney and draw up a legal contract of marriage. it should be the business of nobody else (except their mothers of course who will always have something to say). the emotional and spiritual aspects of the contract do not apply to the government and should be attended to by the marrying couple. if that involves other people (friends, family, minister, etc) that is the perogative of the marrying couple. but for the legality, the government has declared that gays do not deserve the same rights as others to enter that contract (even convicted felons on death-row can marry as long as it is man-to-woman). and the great minds of our polical generation allow the small minds of the christians to rule our country. high absurdity! especially if we actually do have a separation of church and state! the zany mystic said he gets about 10,000 listeners to the radio show each week and a guest could get 7000 hits on his website. i got two and i think one of them was me! obviously my pearls were cast before swine.

to hear the radio show, go to (blog link): http://royanthonyshabla.com

liar liar pants on fire

the better business bureau notified me that power volvo of cerritos replied to the second inquiry regarding their poor business practices with the basic statement that i lied. they refuse to take any responsibility for the situation. the entire exchange will be public record for anyone who requests information about power volvo. my only recourse now is a lawsuit.

peace pot

it was announced this morning that al gore won the nobel prize for peace. i am sending him congratulations and best wishes... but a little begrudgingly. i have worked for peace. i put posters up on my house ~ did al do that? his house is probably presentable. i sell t-shirts ~ does al do that? he only wears old man shirts and we all know old men got us into this mess... sometimes i have nine people in my class and i always talk about peace... peace peace peace, im all about the peace. but i dont have leonardo di caprio to introduce me ~ he wont be seen in public with me anymore! but thats his issue... and i dont jet all over the world to talk about peace, well i was in ohio but that wasnt peaceful... but i do send out newsletters all the time encouraging people to buy my peace products ~ yesterday in fact ~ maybe aol didnt deliver it to the nobel committee... anyway al, congratulations on winning. ill get ya next time!

to participate in the peace movement, (t-shirt link): http://royanthonyshabla.com

celebration

in honor of rumi's 800th birthday, i re-read my book eating God. i expected to be unfazed, unimpressed. i expected to regret the plainess of the language, the simpleness of the idea. i expected to find errors. but what i was greeted with was an epiphany of hope and joy and clarity that completely enchanted me. it is a celebration! and i am delighted to be the utter fool who wrote it! my dear friend patrick who lives in portland visited this weekend. the front cover of eating God showcases his evocative painting of a buddhist monk in meditation and i am blessed to be able to use it there. patrick was in town for the funeral of another artist ~not me~ someone he hadnt seen in twenty years. her husband told patrick that his work had meant so much to them all this time... well of course he had to come for the funeral. it was nice to have him for a quick visit, exchange ideas and support, and live. the weather was beautiful but i never expect anything else!

to purchase my book eating God: http://royanthonyshabla.com

poet poet where art thou?

i have talked about the burning of the book, revolution rapture, by fanatics in oregon. free-thinking is not alive and well in america. it is the 50th anniversary of the first reading of "howl" by allen ginsberg, arguably the most important american poem of the 20th century. the trial for pornography that resulted from its publication changed the face of literature forever... though not necessarily for the better. now, fifty years later, that same poem being read on the radio would elicit so many fines the radio station would be put out of business. literary-nazism has stuck this country in the sanitary mud of the mccarthy era. producers of the tv show, family guy, admit the restrictions for broadcast media are getting tighter. on the other hand, it is the 800th anniversary of the birthday of rumi, the most published poet at this moment in time. celebrations to commemorate his birthday are planned all over the world. if you have not experienced the work of rumi AND the work of ginsberg, get yourself to a literate bookstore now. i am producing a small handmade book of poetry called body of water. it will be letterpress printed in berkeley and assembled with original art and fine details. the edition of 50 will presale for $100 each. reserve your copy now. i will also be on the radio ~ internet radio where you can say whatever you like ~ this saturday evening at 7 pm. bbsradio.com, station 1, a fireside chat with the zany mystic. tune in to liberate your mind.

to purchase my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com

art for arts sake

well im working on a number of art and writing projects and of course i think they are all wonderful. but snoop dog hasnt called. madonna hasnt called. even social d hasnt called. the mark taper forum doesnt yet know to call so they have an excuse... but oprah, well oprah has no excuse. she has so many copies of my books she could start a library! if i had a nickel for every $6 book i sent to a celebrity as promotion, id be a loser in a roomful of nickels! lol! at the moment the room has no nickels but im still here with a big fat L on my forehead. waiting. this week i will make some progress on the button paintings and a small film. im trying to get reasonable estimates for the letterpress printing of a small edition of handmade books. and im checking that the phone and answering machine works. so far it does. but ill check again.

if you want to actually buy my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com

home sweet home

madonna has not called about my new downtown loft, she must be busy at the kaballah center. it is the high holidays, theres kugel to make. but i did dream that snoop dog wanted to produce a bunch of songs with me and a loft was part of the deal. so madonna may have to take a back seat as i rap on. i went to a loft party on saturday for the release of a newly renovated building in downtown la. it is a very community oriented compound designed to make people feel comfortable in the urban environment. but there were a couple of problems: one, the fixtures were cheap. and two, the value of my three bedroom home with antique fixtures and a fantastic garden will buy you something about the size of a car port ~ and with about as much charm. im sure god has kept my home from selling because the price of the lofts will come down and i will be able to get something larger and with a great view. the penthouse on this building had an amazing panorama view of los angeles, definitely a party home. but the cupboards would need to be replaced and the tile of the master bathroom looked like a bus station toilet. so a remodel of the new renovation would be needed... but snoop dog could definitely bring me on home!

the greatest country on earth

sally field spoke about the iraq war at the emmys and fox tv censored her. alan greenspan said the iraq war is only about oil and everyone knows it (in his just released memoirs) and the republican machine has begun to spin it. the little old lady at the seventh day adventist restaurant said her neighbor says that as long as the war doesnt affect her bank account and her soap operas she doesnt care. ignorance is the american way. inertia is the american way. when is america going to wake up and even realize that we are at war? the apathy at the burning of the book revolution rapture is typical of this time period in america. the do nothing generation. where are the 60s when you need them? god bless sally field. she does us proud.

to participate in the peace movement, (t-shirts link): http://royanthonyshabla.com

save yourself

yesterday at the seventh day adventist vegan restaurant the romanian woman who cooks guessed my age as 28. i told her she was right. she said she knew it was true because she had a son who was 28 so she saw what that looked like everyday. she also said i was calm. with the recent full moon and eclipses and retrograde planets going direct, nobody seems calm. my students and clients have been downright crazy. maybe its a lifetime of meditation (i have clients who have been with me for years and still cant find their way to a class); maybe its my diet (if you dont eat things with an asshole, maybe you wont be one); maybe its my spiritual healing work (which has saved my life and others on many ocassions) ~ but i always hear from people about the calmness around me (people dont comment as much specifically about youthfulness because they just assume im young). so heres my philosophy: if you want your life to change, change yourself. if you want to be calmer, younger, brighter DO SOMETHING about it. if you are crazy, read my book eating God. if you arent crazy, read my book eating God. if you want to improve yourself in any way, read my book eating God. if your body doesnt feel right, change your diet and exercise patterns (eat something green for godssake, do a little yoga) ~ these pertain to the body. if your mind doesnt feel right, get into a meditation class (or play chess or do crosswords) ~ these pertain to the mind. if your life doesnt feel right, work on releasing your karma (through spiritual remedies and healing work, meditation, feng shui, etc etc etc) ~ this pertains to your life. this pertains more to your life than anything else. this is the purpose of your life. start now. today. its never too late to be fabulous. its never too late to be 28!

for my spiritual books, meditation classes, and spiritual remedies: http://blesstheworld.com

war what is it good for?

last night i went to the blessings center early and posted my peace posters inside and out ~ even vandalizing the group of no parking signs in front. yoga class was meditative and at the end we lit candles and placed them along the walkway. there was food after and we all had a pleasant evening. commemorating disaster and death doesnt have to be morbid. what did you do to remember september 11th? this morning i read that russia tested the largest non-nuclear bomb in existence ~ four times stronger than what we have. i imagine that means we will manufacture four times as many of ours. war is good for business. the spokesperson for the russian military said: "unlike a nuclear weapon, this bomb doesnt hurt the environment." im so glad they are thinking of the planet as they plan to bomb the hell out of us! people are expendable but we only have one earth. the new report regarding the war in iraq states that shock waves from bombs dislodge the brain in its cradle even if there is no wound. thousands and thousands of soldiers go undiagnosed and exhibit serious memory loss, confusion, and inability to cogitate. shaken baby syndrome. this is like someone who has been in the boxing ring too long, someone who doesnt know when to quit. well america has been in the boxing ring too long ~ bring our babies home! it seems that georgie bush has never been able to cogitate ~ but he cant use as an excuse the shock waves of a bomb. nevertheless dont you just want to take him by the shoulders and give him a good shake?

to participate in the peace movement, or for info in spiritual remedies for trauma and meditation classes: http://blesstheworld.com

yesterday today and tomorrow

i taught meditation class for the first time in a month yesterday and got an ovation (some of it standing) at the end. everyone has been crazy without it and they really appreciated my teaching. we had food for the virgo birthdays and chatted for quite awhile after. i came home to watch "made in la" a documentary about garment workers that aired on pbs but premiered at the los angeles film festival earlier this summer. my dear friend millie who works for legal aid promoted it and reminded me of the airing. i slept in this morning and that felt wonderful. my aunt mary came over after a doctors appointment and ran errands with me. then we went to lunch at mimis (which was better than ihop ~ her first choice). after that i went to pick up a couple cases of the bottles i use when making my spiritual remedies. between that stuff and emails and remote spiritual treatment of regular clients, my day is full. and i dont feel like i got anything done! tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of the september 11th disaster. after yoga we will have a candle vigil. i need to figure out how to hang a large "great minds dream alike" poster (if you havent seen these, check the website photographs). a shout out goes to some of those who have displayed my peace posters for over a year now: sutha thai (the best thai food in the world ~ including thailand) on lakewood boulevard in downey; my mother (whos poster brought crazy people to visit and she still displays it); and lil jean my daughters mother who has it posted to overlook a public parkinglot where the comments can be quite public... i salute you all! as a side note: when the realtor came, she suggested the large peace posters on the front and side of my house may be a distraction. elizabeth, aroused from her nap on the sofa, asked, "from what? the war?"

for free peace posters, information on meditation classes, spiritual remedies: http://blesstheworld.com

update downdate stalemate who you hate?

san jose was a wonderful, tiring, too short trip this past labor day weekend to celebrate with steve. today is his birthday but when you have a brain tumor you dont put things on hold. he looks great. he seems great. the tumor is reduced over 75% and the current reading has the doctors in shock. doctors should be in shock more. there is no prognosis ~ nobody knows what to say ~ so he and martha have trips planned to the east coast and europe and everywhere in the next few months. god bless them. i came home with an ear infection. water from swimming in hawaii and pressure from several plane rides did a little magic in my right ear. im working on it. but its just one more thing ~ i seem to be high maintenence right now. chase bank notified the dmv that i have no insurance on the leased vehicle that was returned over two months ago. chase bank is a dirty "see you next tuesday". i wrote a letter to both the dmv and chase. the financial supervisors from chase bank have never returned the phone calls to them to resolve this matter. is it over a month now? lawyers i contacted to help with the matter have never called back or returned calls. part of the stress of this situation is that nothing ever works. i feel like im the only person who speaks my language and everyone else is just smiling and nodding and then doing nothing. i have art coming up for sale at three auctions in the next six weeks. there seem to be issues with each of them but the most concern is with david ragos craftsman auction because the contract doesnt seem correct to me. i called his assistant last week but havent gotten a call back yet. im gonna need to step up the feng shui voodoo ~ especially for communication. o yeah and the head of the salem witch trial book burning of zero ones "revolution rapture" (my abstract drawings are on the covers and inside pages) has been harassing me. how can such a couple of great months be so bad?

for spiritual remedies, feng shui info, my wonderful books: http://blesstheworld.com

wheres the music man when you need him?

iowa senator larry craig was arrested for lewd conduct after allegedlly soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in an airport bathroom. he says hes not gay. this seems prevalent in the gay community. "butch" men who only have sex with other "butch" men ~ no matter what their role in the activity ~ consider themselves straight. they dont say heterosexual. they say straight. so its a vocabulary problem. soon-to-be-ex senator craig is saying hes not a girly man, a femmie lala, living in the gay lifestyle... he is not saying he doesnt have sex with men. i wonder if the police officer was "straight" also???!!! i see a film script brewing... coincidentally, the county of boise iowa allowed gay marriages on thursday when a judge overturned the ruling prohibiting it. that lasted about twenty minutes. but twenty minutes of clarity is like a lifetime in some places. if only senator craig had had those twenty minutes of clarity. he could have gotten married before he solicited unsafe public sex from the wrong stranger. his "same sex ~ butch to butch ~ not gay to gay" marriage could have been his savior. if he had been openly gay and had had an "infidelity" it wouldnt have been as tragic for his career. do you really care that clinton was getting blowjobs while hillary was laying the groundwork for a new career? the economy was better and everyone was happy! seriously. everyone was happy. now ex-senator craig wont dare to chance sex with a man for fear of more scandal and will only get sex with his wife. that should be punishment enough.

for t-shirts, stickers, pins against prop 8: http://royanthonyshabla.com

book burning book burning give me a tan

Revolution Rapture by Zero One is a book of ideas that will rock your world, will shatter your concept of reality, will open your eyes to another perspective. it is anarchy and it is redemptive. AND IT IS BEING BURNED! i thought salem oregon was a university town but maybe thats eugene, i thought it was an intelligent state ~ it has the largest bookstore there (powell's in portalnd refused to carry my books but now has used copies ~ new ones i sent for approval ~ for sale on their website) i thought it was idyllic... but it is actually medieval. salem oregon is the center of the new dark ages! revolution rapture was burned in a fit of pique as blasphemous and unbecoming a gentleman... or something like that. go to lulu.com/zeroone to order a copy before its banned completely.

to buy my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com

now now

hawaii was a dream. im usually ready to be home after six days on a trip but ten in kauai wasnt enough. the super inter-island ferry launched the day before i returned home but had to return to the kauai port on its maiden voyage because a blockade of surfers and swimmers halted its passage. environmental concerns. this comes at the same time a study is released that says america is the most armed country in the world ~ there are ninety guns for every 100 people in the united states... and those are only the legal ones! well i dont have a gun... and those surfers werent packing! so somebody has quite an arsenal! i suppose its best i dont have a gun since im still dealing with the frustrating nonsense of chase bank and power volvo. i could have a twinkie moment! just as an update on the car lease mess: the "see-you-next-tuesday" supervisor(s) from chase bank who were supposed to return a call within 48 hours still have not called two weeks later. they did however notify the dmv that the volvo is not insured... so i am in more trouble EVEN THOUGH I DO NOT HAVE THIS CAR ~ IT WAS RETURNED TO THE DEALERSHIP THREE MONTHS AGO. warning: do not lease a car. do not deal with power volvo or any other power car dealership. do not deal with chase bank. the better business bureau is investigating. im having computer troubles and clarice hasnt shown up to fix them yet so i better upload this before we freeze and crash. and burn. o btw: i must really be getting on to some important stuff ~ my books are being burned!

chase bank assholes

i just sent a check for $1004.74 via priority mail so my account for the leased car i returned two months ago will not be delinquent. the dealer has the car. the bank will not accept the car (a 2004 volvo suv in great condition) without $30,000+ ~ actually more than the value of the car. so the bank wants both the car and more money than the car is worth... and then they want me to pay for them to auction the car so they can have that money too! the last asshole i spoke with at chase bank threatened to take me to court, threatened to take my house, my earnings, report me to the irs (why?), ruin my credit for life, and was so menacing i feared for my safety. seriously. i felt he was threatening my life and my familys lives. ever wonder what god has in store for someone who makes a living doing that? so i have begun some serious feng shui voodoo. nothing dark at all, nothing bad, but serious. a candle here, a mirror there... if i can get my clients out of major lawsuits without karma i can do it for myself. the funny thing is, this situation seems to be something easily resolved. that is why i didnt begin the feng shui work immediately. but i should have known: at the beginning of the year, i predicted conflicts and lawsuits for the man of the house. and i am the man, the man of the house! and so the game is on. i notified the better business bureau, the chamber of commerce, and all the local newspapers. and tomorrow im off to hawaii! the problem is, in america, with such a poor diet, assholes dont let go easily. maybe i should bring them a pineapple!

for information on feng shui and karma: http://blesstheworld.com

car lease drama

so its been 48 hours and the supervisor from the lease department of chase bank has never called me back. i called them and got a man named don in the lease department. he was equally hard, illogical, and an asshole as mark. he said i owed over $30k and would be prosecuted in the court of law and reported to the irs (returning a leased car has something to do with income?) etc etc. once again i asked for a supervisor and he was reticient to allow me to speak with one. i asked three times and was finally transferred to a voice mail where i left another message. does it seem logical that because i owe six months of a lease, about $3000, that i should pay them $30,000+ ~ does it seem logical that they should expect i would pay that? i said to don that there must be some reasonable way this can be resolved. he said no there wasnt!

leasing a car is a big mistake

I leased a Volvo SUV from Power Volvo Cerritos in 2004. Chase Bank financed the lease. Two years later (2006), in the course of having the car serviced by the dealership, I spoke with Mr. Kimo in his office regarding the procedure of returning a leased car (I had never leased a car before and wanted the information so I would be prepared). He told me I should return the car early, that it would have lower mileage and less wear-and-tear, and that my turn-in fee would be less because of this. He also said he himself would be happier because he would receive a better car (lower mileage, etc.) to re-sell (or lease). He said any minor scratches etc. would be overlooked and I would only be responsible for overage on my allotted miles (if any). A few months later while leaving the car for another service appointment, I spoke with Mr. Kimo again. He restated the same things and I asked him to tell me what my turn-in fee would be. He didn’t know the answer and said he would call me with the figure. He never did. I travel frequently and was not concerned about this. Again, at the time of another service visit (still in 2006), I spoke with Mr. Kimo a third time about returning the car. I mildly chastised him for not calling me with the calculations as per our last conversation. Our meeting was cut short ~ he had salesmen coming in and out of his office~ but it ended with him telling me to return the car as soon as I wanted (as in our previous meetings) and the mileage would be calculated at that time.

In June, 2007, I called Power Volvo and said I wanted to make an appointment to return my leased car. I spoke with and subsequently met Mr. Eddie. He examined the car and noted the details and mileage on a contract which both he and I signed. He said an appraiser had to come from Chase Bank to evaluate the condition (it was very good) and I would receive a bill from Chase for the mileage and condition. And we were done. I left the dealership and immediately called to cancel my insurance on that car. I bought a new car approximately a week later.

In August 2007, I received a delinquent bill from Chase Bank. It was not a bill for closing costs, it was a bill for the regular lease for the past two months. When I queried Chase, I was told Power Volvo had never notified them I had returned the car. I called Mr. Eddie at Power Volvo who told me he had called Chase and the appraiser was supposed to have arrived in three days. Six weeks later he still hadn’t arrived. I asked Mr. Eddie to look into the problem and report back to me.

Mr. Eddie called later to say the problem was that I still had a year remaining on my lease. I didn’t understand that this was a problem since I had been told repeatedly to turn the car in early, that it was better for everyone especially myself. Mr. Eddie said I owed the money for the remaining year of the lease even though I didn’t have the car. Of course I told him that that was ridiculous, I had bought a new car two months earlier and wasn’t going to pay two car payments, especially one for a car I didn’t have. (When I originally returned the car to Mr. Eddie, I brought with me my monthly lease statement from Chase Bank so he could have the account number and other lease information. The “term” and “months in service” ~ the amount of time remaining on the lease~ are clearly reported. He examined the statement throughout the time of our exchange and prior to our signing of the contract, which was done at the end of our meeting.)

Mr. Eddie said he would speak with the general manager the next day about the problem, that he could resolve it. A week later I called Mr. Eddie because I had not heard back from him. He said I would need to speak with the general manager myself, that he had briefed him on the case but he (the general manager) didn’t see his responsibility.

Mr. Mohammad, the General Manager of Power Volvo in Cerritos, returned my calls the next afternoon. He agreed that Mr. Kimo may have repeatedly told me that it was in my better interest to return my leased car early but he also said that Mr. Kimo was wrong about that and didn’t work for Power Volvo any longer. Mr. Mohammad said that if I didn’t come to take the car off the lot he was going to charge a storage fee.

Before I could think, Chase Bank called me regarding the delinquent account. I started the story from the beginning (again) and was transferred to a very nice, rational woman who put the notes of this case into their computer system. She then explained to me that there is a six-month, no-penalty period for returning a leased car early. What this meant was that I was only responsible for six months instead of a year (the last six months of the lease would be the grace period). Six months of the lease would be less than $3000. While I didn’t feel responsible for this amount, I also felt I would like to be done with the whole business and was willing to take the loss. But she told me it needed to be finalized with another department which would decide if I was responsible for any other fees (such as mileage).

She transferred me to a very hard man (Mr. Mark) who told me that nothing the nice woman had said was valid. I did not owe Chase Bank for six months of a lease; he said I owed them for a year of the lease (almost $6000 + mileage and condition) plus I owed them for auction fees to sell the car at a wholesale car auction (fees unknown as of yet) plus I owed them the balance of the retail price of the car (over $24,000).

He then told me not to raise my voice to him.

I asked to speak to someone else, to a supervisor. Mr. Mark told me a supervisor would tell me the same thing and that I would have to wait 24 to 48 hours to speak with one. I gave him my cell phone number.

Chase Bank
JP Morgan Chase & Co.

800 227 5151 lease department
800 604 1011 lease department
800 242 7396 re-marketing department (Mr. Mark)

Power Volvo
Power AutoGroup
an AutoNation company

Mr. Mohammad (General Manager, Power Volvo, Cerritos CA)
Mr. Eddie (Lease Returns, Power Volvo, Cerritos CA)
Mr. Kimo (Lease/Financing, Power Volvo, Cerritos CA ~ no longer employed)

18303 Studebaker Road
Cerritos, CA 90703

562 207 1200 general number

merrily merrily merrily

three times now i have had the same dream: madonna is buying me a loft in downtown la in exchange for me writing her three songs. and they are great songs. and the loft is great. and i am happy! what a dream! i have tried to analyze the dream language, such as does "madonna" mean my mother, does "loft" mean coffin in the sky, does "three songs" mean i wont shut up? sometimes a dream is just a dream. i just got back from my trip to san francisco and still need to unpack. everything went well ~ selling antiques wasnt horrible wasnt stupendous, it was ok. it was nice to see friends. now i need to spend the next few days preparing for the trip to hawaii on saturday, a vacation for ten days with my daughter. wonderful. but for today, the car needs to be unpacked, i have a client this afternoon, and maybe yoga this evening. im a little tired ~ i stayed up late writing the lyrics to two songs. maybe ill be moving soon!

nuke me baby

i just read an article on the safety of microwave cooking with plastic. it never mentions the fact that microwave cooking itself is unsafe... it never mentions the studies that have proven that microwaves themselves are unsafe. since the 1980s, chemicals which make plastic overtly poisonous were removed from food storage containers. but they still are not safe. the crude testing by the fda allows 100 to 1000 times less the reccomended allowance of toxic chemicals to be transmitted to the food from plastic food storage containers. that means that if you microwave in a plastic container everyday for three months to three years, you are toxic as all shit from the chemicals (let alone the microwaves). this is what the fda allows. and the article was in support of this and called for a stop to the hoax regarding the dangers of microwaving in plastic. you can lead a horse to water and apparently you can safely wrap him in saran wrap and nuke him. you just cant make him think!

for the blessthebody.com spiritual remedy, radiation cleanse: http://blesstheworld.com

jack jack jack

elizabeth called me this morning to tell me my life isnt boring. she had insomnia and got up to read my blog at 3 am... she figured it would knock her out. instead, she was interested and energized. she was however upset that the only reference to her was of sleeping on my couch instead of working... she wanted me to right the record. so: no elizabeth you dont sleep on my couch instead of working, no no thats not you, you would never sleep on my couch in the afternoon instead of working, not you, no never, never. my friend karen also called this morning. she deals in antique tiles (antiquetiles.com) and i know her from pottery shows and pottery friends. she is a witchy woman with a great philosophy of life, she always has a good view of any situation. (elizabeth is also a witchy woman with a great view of any situation... im lucky to have them both in my life.) karen and i talked about family friends and life, shes always a good talk. she had been reading my blog, she also mentioned not being mentioned. doesnt everyone realize that this is about me? me me me!

hawaii baby

im going to kauai with hadley and little jean and jennifer for ten days. they called and said you wanna go, i said sure... and i dont care how fat i am, im gonna have fun! i travel a lot but i havent been anywhere that wasnt work in a long long time. so to update people, i will be in san francisco next week, home for a couple days, then off to hawaii. that means that this sunday there will be meditation class in my home/garden then no more class for the rest of august (the price for class goes to $16 in september). i can say mele kalikimaka (merry christmas) but i better start studying the carls junior commercials to bone up on the dude lingo. but before hawaii, san francisco (arts and crafts antiques show)... and before that, here and today! im working on my cookbook (allegedly).

for info on my meditation classes: http://blesstheworld.com

work?

i ordered t-shirts this morning (if you havent ordered my peace shirts or other t-shirts, go to the website and get busy! http://royanthonyshabla.com right now there is a special: order three and get one free, they make great gifts) and i mailed packages at the post office and talked on the phone and sent emails... what an exciting life i lead! last night i finished the last touches (i think) on a button painting and am waiting for it to dry so i can put a hanger on it and hang it. actually im not waiting for it to dry, its drying and im doing the other things that make up my exciting life. i made a small booklet of the text for the body of water film, students in meditation class got a copy (maybe that made them sick???!!!) and others went into the mail. now thats its out, maybe i will proof/edit it! or maybe ill just have a nap, the details of life are exhausting.

good luck with that!

meditation class yesterday was so amazing ~ we did exercises to release the karma of past loves ~ that several people got sick! one almost fainted, one threw up, another couple had panic attacks, and others were generally dizzy and/or unwell. really a great class. and wifey didnt speak for a day ~ a miracle in itself! and you wonder why people are afraid to come to meditation class ~ they are afraid something will happen!!! next week class will be in my garden, the following week there is no class as i will be in the bay area. if you arent in a meditation class somewhere you are living in your own shit!

for information on spiritual remedies to remove karma, meditation classes, or general metaphysical stuff: http://blesstheworld.com

what a day

yesterday everyone showed up at the house. even though i work until late, it seems important to people that they call me early. and then show up. by the early afternoon, i had had six people through the house and a dozen phone calls and i needed to lie down for a nap! my assistant had a nap on the couch and then we made spiritual remedies into the evening. after that i worked on manuscripts until late, alternating the computer with television and telephone. and this morning it all started again. bright and early. i am busy all the time but it seems like there is always more... and the phone is ringing... who wants to rub my feet?

for information on the spiritual remedies: http://blessthebody.com

garbage in garbage out

a study just came out that says soft drinks arent good for you. duh! it also specifies that diet soft drinks arent good for you. double duh! who spent the money to figure that out? and where have they been all these years that everyone else has known that soft drinks are poison? now will the surgeon general place a warning label on coca cola that says "for external use only"? i am constantly amazed at the level of denial we as human beings are able to achieve when it comes to food (as well as politics, religion, relationships...). the botulism in canned meat has been in the news all week but the real surprise to me is that people are still eating canned food let alone canned meat. ew! when i was a little kid i told a neighbor mom that canned foods werent good for you ~ she verbally attacked me (a nine year old) wanting scientific proof... obviously common sense wasnt enough for her! and obviously scientific studies arent enough either as there have been several regarding soft drinks and people still drink them to the tune of millions of dollars a year. my refrigerator is stocked with coca cola (aka mexican plasma) and other soft drinks for the workers and the hansens healthy sodas are always the last to go... i drink water so dont look at me. many many years ago i met a young couple at the naturopathic college in portland oregon who were working for nutrisweet ~ it had just been released. they thought it was the best thing ever. the information regarding the toxicity of nutrisweet was widespread before the product ever reached the market and yet these people who were allegedly interested in natural health were able to sublimate their common sense and enjoy the poison. the original marketing spin to counteract the information regarding the toxicity of nutrisweet was that "its just like bananas and cream, how can that be bad?" or some such thing. and people will believe any lie that empowers them to arrogantly deny an unhealthy lifestyle. of course the karma is a shocking surprise! coke ~ the drink of the last generation!

yesterday and yesterday and yesterday

the cleaning lady is trying her best to work around my work so i went out to breakfast then a couple banks, post office, and gas station to give her some space. i got an email this morning from a high school buddy ~ i havent seen or heard from anyone since i left high school (even though i live in the same town i lived in then) ~ and it strikes me how distant the past can really be sometimes. i knew these people he is mentioning, they were a part of my everyday life, and yet it is like a foggy dream that was rapidly dissolving until we began to focus on the last remnants of the memories. my friend steve doesnt live in the town he grew up in (see details of trip to ohio from last couple weeks) but his ties there are very strong and he is in regular contact with his school buddies. i have trouble keeping in contact with those who are in my life now! the waitress at the breakfast cafe speaks to me more than some of my dearest friends... maybe i can make more of an effort to be in touch with friends... or maybe they can just read my blog and invite me to parties...

buried treasure

my daughter hadley wanted to go fishing sunday morning. she was excited about it but was worried about me ~ she told her mother i might not want to go because i was vegetarian. she then told her mother if she caught a fish she would throw it back and her mother was to tell me that. at six years old she already understands the concept of non-violence. it ended up she only caught seaweed. but the bakelite jewelry i brought for her from my trip had fish on it so she did end up catching something! after fishing and a little play on the beach, we went to see their new house in san pedro. they are moving from a view of a parkinglot to a full frontal view of the ocean with eucalyptus trees and cliffs, from rags to riches! it is a fixer-upper that will be inprocess for awhile but it is also a mansion on the beach. im so happy for them. i had read about the two guys in england who found a buried viking treasure. it was over a thousand years old, only a foot beneath the surface of the ground, and in a farmers field (a place that had been dug for centuries). how close are we all to treasures? in meditation class, we did exercises for bringing in the treasures that are right before our eyes yet we miss them. i am finding them every second!

for information on meditation classes: http://blesstheworld.com

saturday saturday

i answered emails and saw a client this morning. then big jeanne came over and we made spiritual remedies to take to the yoga studio tomorrow. i finished the button painting i was working on and am now getting ready to go to dorothys to take her to the movies. in between, i wrote a little and talked on the phone... dont i lead an exciting life?

for information on the spiritual remedies: http://blessthebody.com

idiot nation

the rules are now changed for airport security. even though flights are non-smoking, you will now be able to carry a lighter onboard the plane. you still cannot carry drinking water, it is far more dangerous than an incendiary device; you still cannot carry more than three ounces of anything such as shampoo, toothpaste, or foot cream ~ they are an unnecessary security risk... but a lighter, thats perfectly safe. it will come in handy in the event of a "water landing" ~ you can signal the private planes which carry whatever they like and maybe they will drop you a four ounce martini with two olives to celebrate the "safety" of our air travel. i go to the natural products expo every year and the samples of bath and body products i receive become my travel kit. a toothpaste called "hakim herbal" has been with me on my last few trips. it has writing in arabic on it. a military/security/southern drawl checkpoint guy questioned it: "i saw writing like that when i was in iraq..." "its toothpaste." "but we dont know what it says..." "it says the same thing your toothpaste says, people everywhere brush their teeth the same way. if americans understood that we wouldnt be in this war." of course, it could have been directions for a bomb!

good trip man

steve said it was the best trip of his life. and his health and stamina were amazing throughout it. his party on saturday night was a great great success ~ over a 150 people feeling so much love! a car had driven through the front wall of the community center building the day before and so there was some concern about having the party there but everything was fine. and in a small town, thats just something more for people to talk about! we had a bbq the night before with steves best friend bryce and his family and it was a lovely evening. the day after the party, we had brunch with the mcoys at the country club then visited with steves cousin at his bowling alley. as we left town, we had a beer in a biker bar with a couple other friends of steves that he wasnt able to speak with much at his party. the stories about steve from everyone the whole time we were there were delightful ~ he was such a bad boy, im not sure why that town welcomes him back! we did find time to shop for pottery and i bought some bakelite jewelry for my daughter. one of the most interesting things we did was to visit an area between roseville and zanesville (we were back and forth a few times a day) where there was an underground railroad. slaves were brought up the river and went into a tunnel in the toll house (which means local government was sympathetic)... the tunnel went for almost a mile to a mansion on the hill... a derelict amusement park just across from the toll house was where steve found some liberation of his own when he was young.

to participate in the peace and equal rights movement (t-shirt link): http://royanthonyshabla.com

home again home again jiggitty jig

well first: the sky bus was not that interesting and should not be confused with the air bus. its just a regular plane with no ammenities. the crew going from oakland to columbus was delightful, the crew coming back was fine... but in columbus (their home!) the boarding was so disorganized that it was difficult. preboarding meant you went first, everyone else piled on immediately after and it was difficult to get settled. in columbus, the plane is boarded both front and back and people from the back had come all the way forward before we got steve out of his wheelchair and the carry-ons stowed. o and beware: the carry-one size is minute. a standard carry-one that is normal for another airline is too large for skybus and must be checked. one of mine was two inches too large but quite easily fits in the overhead of other planes. you pay $5 to check each of your first bags and $50 for the third. you pay for your food and drink onboard (which is acceptable) but you are not allowed to bring your own food or drink onboard (which is unacceptable) and they do not even offer water for free. you can however hide your own food in your minute carry-on and nobody seems to care, not that i know anyone who did that! they also offer "gifts" for sale... i thought the poor sweet girls were embarrassed to be pushing the cart of odd perfumes, cubic zirconium jewelry, and liquered chocolates up the aisle three time during the flight. on the other hand, we met a nice couple who were going to san francisco for their first time and they had $10 tickets. i suggested they visit city lights books even though the shop does not carry my books.

to buy my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com

nighty nighty night

miriam, web goddess, put together the newsletter at the eleventh hour so it could go out before i leave town. she is amazing and wonderful and so good to me. i am almost packed, the house is almost ready, i am almost exhausted. i got a call from a client who happened to drive by the house ~she was happy to see the peace posters up again. i am taking a couple of the t-shirts on the trip with me, spread a little light to the midwest! this is my sign-off for a week ~try not to miss me too much!

for peace shirts, free posters, etc: http://blesstheworld.com

to see the relationship with miriam change, read on...

the plans

i am going to be gone from wednesday to wednesday, flying tomorrow to san jose to be with my friends martha and steve, then going to san francisco to meet chuck and fly to columbus ohio. steve grew up in a little town in ohio, roseville which is outside of zanesville ~ the pottery capital of the country, and he wanted to visit family and childhood friends. steve has a brain tumor. worst case scenario, inoperable, incurable. and yet it is now reduced 75%!!! his doctors attribute this to the chemo which has never worked on this kind of cancer, nothing has ever worked on this kind of cancer (in their book). they also attribute the damage to his heart to the chemo (which it does have a history of)... so steve is weak and has difficulty breathing and would not be able to travel alone... and martha is going to have a rest... and we boys are going to make an event of it. friday we will shop for pottery and visit with pottery friends. on saturday night there will be a big party in roseville. we will come back on tuesday and i return home on wednesday from the bay area. from san francisco to columbus we are flying the new sky bus. i am kinda excited to see how that works -- especially getting over 500 people on a plane in less than two hours... and then off again... of course, we have to get through the airport (with a wheelchair, drugs, and various voodoo acoutrements) first.

on the road again

today i need to prepare for travel~ pack, prepare house to be alone, prepare clients to be alone, etcetera... my webmistress miriam in mexico has jobbed out work to hindus in india and nobody can do what she does ~especially, it seems, understand what i want! but they are very energetic and kind and will get my newsletter right at some point... since they will be asleep soon, it might have to be when i return in a week... so back to the packing... i still dont understand how my shampoo is a national security risk. my sister said to a security agent once, "if i were gonna make a bomb, i wouldnt use a $22 tube of estee lauder lip lard to do it" (she might not have said "lard" but you get the drift). i have to decide what to wear to go through the airport -- i think i should just go in my bathrobe and dress after going through security. soon after 911, i was traveling somewhere and the hugest mountain of a black man was supposed to search me, this skinny white boy at the security station. we went through the first few superficial ministrations and then he asked me to open the front of my pants. i looked up at him straight into his big brown eyes and said, "i usually get dinner first." he waved me on without further search. damn.

on target

the live earth worldwide concert looked like a big target commercial. luckily, i like the target commericals. i watched for almost eleven hours, first at my mothers with dorothy and i being joined by my aunt mary, then at my daughters with little jean and jennifer. my daughter hadley wasnt interested in saving the world yesterday but has in the past made signs and posted them at the beach to encourage people to respect the planet and its life. thats daddys little girl!!! she watched moby dick in the back room while we enjoyed the broadcast. bravo and msn had different programming of the event and each was great. msn showed short films between bands which was a cool idea. al gore did give me a wave and a wink. this morning i finished my newsletter so hopefully it will go out tomorrow, depending on the weather in mexico... in it i announce that the peace posters are re-installed on my house and if people want to come and take pictures of themselves with the posters, they are welcome. email me for directions. hopefully you wear one of my peace shirts when you do it! (maybe some day they will be available at target!!!) the blogger software did let me write a title today so im sure the world is already healing... it still doesnt "remember me on this computer" but that could be because i shaved and showered. nobody recognizes me when i get cleaned up!

for free posters and peace shirts: http://royanthonyshabla.com

blogger

for some reason the blogger software has not allowed me to write a title for a couple days now... but when i log in, it has never "remembered me on this computer" so i guess the software issues are are deeper than i think... but arent everyones?

viva la revolucion

beto has been my savior, handyman, and gardener for several years now. he used to work for me full time but now only comes one or two days a week. whatever hair-brained idea i come up with, either he or big jeanne or both have been there to work on it with me. beto came this morning and we installed the peace posters on the front, side, and (a small one on the) back of the house. i told him we were revolutionaries like che guevara, he said che was cool. we talked about how what we do today will survive us... some kid who sees my house and posters will soon be telling his grandkids about the extremely goodlooking and slightly quirky man who lived near him when he was little... im going to dorothys to watch al gores live earth concert this afternoon then on to my daughters... the torch is being passed!

free posters for peace: http://blesstheworld.com

give em a hand

before surgery on her hand, big jeanne was told it would take six weeks for her to recover. six months later, the doctors are saying it could take a year or more. obviously the doctors dont have a clue (have you seen michael moores sicko yet?)... but the bottom line is this: i am hard-pressed to get any work out of big jeanne! so after spending the day at kinkos to get peace posters made, they still arent hung because i need another body (with working hands) to help. (if you want to see what the posters look like hung, go to the website and click on photographs ~ what have you done today to save the world?) i did work on my button painting only burning my fingers a few times. and i had a good breakthrough on the text for body of water (film). so my hands have been busy while others remain idle. tomorrow is the big planet party, of course i havent heard a peep from al gore!

addendum

my friend jack just called to say he was reading my blog and i never mention him. jack helped me pick out my new car. he points, i pay. there you are mentioned. jack jack jack! the kinkos experience today was challenging to say the least. deforestation was increased exponentially by the enlarging of my save the world posters. that would be known as irony! the brilliant cathy who worked at kinkos in downey was always able to enlarge my posters to five feet tall or wide with a minimum of effort ~she had a slide rule or a slide disk and knew all the secrets of the machines to produce a wonderful effortless product. but, as is the case with corporate america, the better you do your job, the less you actually do it (so if you feel you are stuck in a dead-end job its probably because you are not very good at even that!)... fedex who bought kinkos promoted cathy to shipping in another city and now she never touches a copy machine. its like great teachers who are promoted to administrators. we all suffer. the first person to help me at kinkos today couldnt even use the regular machine, 11 x 14 was beyond her understanding. her manager took over after the large scale copier ran out of paper from so many mis-calculations. he was worse/illogical but patient. an hour and twenty minutes later i had four posters and fourteen big mistakes. some of the mistakes were usable... but kinkos wouldnt give them to me without paying for them. why would i pay for mistakes they made when i could have as many of the ones done correctly (they were no cathy, but good enough) as i wanted? so the mistake "save the world" posters, miles of paper, went into the trash. not such good customer service or public relations. i was so upset by this way of conducting business i had to go to the seventh day adventist restaurant for lunch. broccoli soup, macaroni and cheese, cashew cookie ~everything handmade and vegan (and no mistakes) and jack jack jack didnt get to go with me because he had to be at his dead-end job. there you were mentioned again.

today

i am going to print and enlarge to six feet a couple peace posters from the website and paste them on the front and side of the house. i wonder what my neighbors really think about me as a neighbor! i am going to work on the button painting that is almost finished, hopefully i dont burn off my fingerprints! i am going to write. i am going to write. i am going to write. today. after breakfast...

for free peace posters... and t-shirts, etc: http://royanthonyshabla.com

independence day

happy fourth of july! i was up early and on the roof of the house doing some major feng shui work. beto is still there in the heat finishing it. i think about independence and how it can become "disconnection" if your soul is lazy... if your heart is lax... it is hard work to not be lazy! i will make a batch of spiritual remedies today before going to the firework festivities ~the remedies are for some clients who are not lazy, who are not disconnected. and if i get off my butt and make them, my wonderful assistant elizabeth will deliver them tomorrow. independence is intertwined with dependence ~and that is the joy of it!

for information on spiritual remedies and feng shui: http://blesstheworld.com

a night in la

saturday night, wifey and i went to the old adobe in los angeles for a benefit dinner for the craft and folk art musem honoring our friend carol. noah wiley was there looking handsome. all the girls from free hand were there. karyn craven ~the fashion designer~ sat with me. i wore a liz claiborne suit in honor of her recent death and looked pretty hot if i dont say so myself! it was a lovely evening. wifeys mother didnt remember she had met me as i was standing in a dumpster in the alley behind free hand many years ago. wifeys father didnt remember he had met me fifteen minutes earlier at the cocktail party. if i were a wanted criminal, i wouldnt need to hide; i would just have to bathe and put on decent clothes ~no-one would recognize me!

save the world

al gore invited me to a party. i only hear from him when he wants something ~this time its saving the world, a big party and concert on 07-07-07. i couldnt get anyone to participate in PEACE ON EARTH DAY / PEACE RADIO ~it was a grand failure~ so how does he think i can help? he will rock the world, i cant even give it a shake! i think inertia is the great disease of our time, the plague is especially strong in the usa... how is it that each and every american has not picked up a stone and hurled it at the white house? especially after electing someone not smart enough to hide fixing the election ~it was done in plain sight for a month... how is it that americans still believe we need to be in iraq? the lies have been in plain sight for years... but the news media are distracted by the plight of paris hilton and americans are plagued by inertia. and a.d.d. my newsletter goes out directly to a few thousand people but i might as well read it to myself! get off the couch, come to the party. you can save yourself from the disease!

for free peace posters, t-shirts, pins, stickers: http://royanthonyshabla.com

a day in la

mapquest sucks. tried to see a film about garment workers at the la film festival but the directions were wrong and we never found the theater. very frustrating. traffic and road construction on a beautiful day... and my cell phone was dead. so big jeanne and i went to free hand (carol made the documentary "craft in america") to visit and use a parking space... we walked across the street to get lunch and the restaurant had had their liquor license suspended. hell is lunch without wine! nobody at the restaurant seemed to know WHY their license was suspended... we then went to the la county museum of art and walked through the 18th century european permanent collection. we were both amazed by the fine details in some of the small sculptures. one particular alabaster figure group held jeannes attention for some time~ the details of the hair, the beauty of the faces, the reality of the hands... she didnt seem to notice it was a naked man (kronos) eating his children. how la!

summer solstice newsletter

my webmistress miriam and i got the newsletter out this morning. about summer solstice, meditating, health... my spiritual remedies and some basic feng shiu treatments. i meditated last night and this morning ~ what i teach in class instead of my regular delusion! and now after an onion sandwich i am working on a button painting. very beautiful but i keep burning my fingers with the glue gun. of course i could burn them with my tongue much worse.

for newsletters and information on meditation classes, spiritual remedies, and feng shui: http://blesstheworld.com

happy summer solstice

i got a new car ~ a scion xb 2008. it doesnt look as much like a bread box as it does a mini cooper on steroids. im liking it very much. drove it to get lunch at the seventh day adventist vegan restaurant in a mexican suburb with my student and friend siri nichon. good reviews all around. i also got a thank you note from virgina tech university for the copies of my book and bottles of my spiritual remedies i sent after the tragedy in april. most tragedy victims dont send thank you notes ~ the amish didnt, new orleans didnt, ny was a little nasty... so if nothing else, the military are being taught etiquette. if soldiers ever find themselves without a job, they could work for walmart!

07 06 07 06 07

my life is not interesting enough to have a blog. maybe i will write, "i woke up" etc... if ever that happens...

06 06 07

this is my first blog. or non- blog! i have nothing to say.