its the end of the world as we know it...
people are afraid. the economy is bad: stocks, houses, cars... retail ~ all in the toilet.
clients are telling me its the worst year of their lives.
i, on the other hand, wrote two wonderful books this year. i finished my wonderful handmade book. i have finished a couple poetry films, working on another. i now have my poetry on bottles of wine. and my graffiti is on a line of t-shirts which everyone loves.
i am teaching two meditation classes a week instead of one.
i have wonderful clients who adore me, wonderful friends who love me. my daughter is more and more of a delight in my life. and my family isnt misbehaving (much).
i employ more people than i did last year. and im happier with my employees than i was last year.
yes these are difficult times. like death, this is something that happens. i think we all have to ask ourselves: did we really enjoy the good times? or did we waste them and much of the fear now is really regret? i count my blessings in the good times and the bad. and i am really blessed.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
blog on blogging
arianna huffington was on tavis smiley tonight. she was on charlie rose last week. she is promoting her new book about blogging. she looked beautiful, spoke intelligently, and was very sweet. and the script was almost identical on each show.
i met arianna huffington at a day spa in the valley many years ago. she was a regular client, i had an office there. we only said hello and im sure she has no recollection of the event but i have followed her press ever since. and im sure it is that meeting that stimulated her blossoming in the world. she has come a long way since then.
annie leibovitz was also on tavis. she also has a new book. i never met her but i think she would be great to have a glass of wine with. she was unpolished and real. i wish her segment could have been longer -- to let the artist reveal the art... but im sure she will be on charlie rose soon... if he can ever get done with politics and the economy.
i bet charlie rose would be great to have a glass of wine with too... but he would do all the talking and im not so good at listening. oh well. im sure the wine would be good.
i met arianna huffington at a day spa in the valley many years ago. she was a regular client, i had an office there. we only said hello and im sure she has no recollection of the event but i have followed her press ever since. and im sure it is that meeting that stimulated her blossoming in the world. she has come a long way since then.
annie leibovitz was also on tavis. she also has a new book. i never met her but i think she would be great to have a glass of wine with. she was unpolished and real. i wish her segment could have been longer -- to let the artist reveal the art... but im sure she will be on charlie rose soon... if he can ever get done with politics and the economy.
i bet charlie rose would be great to have a glass of wine with too... but he would do all the talking and im not so good at listening. oh well. im sure the wine would be good.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
talk talk madonna talk
i was up late chatting with madonna. sometimes i get tired holding the phone so i lie down and rest the receiver next to me on the bed. shes really an interesting person when you calm her down. besides the political and spiritual stuff, she really has ideas about art and poetry and community and we enjoy talking to each other. for all her wonderfulness however, i dont think i would trade lives... it seems so attractive to be a star, a mega star, but poor thing has no quiet privacy without a lot of work to get it. i told her she could crash on my couch if she needed to get away ~ downey is a little slice of nowhere! but with these terrible fires, its not good for her throat... but shes not here right now anyway.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
new book on peace and protest
my new book, (PEACE) WORDS, is just released. it is autobiographical about being a protest artist and a peace monger. it confesses numerous international illegal actions and many beautiful, quiet convictions. order your copy now from my website. http://royanthonyshabla.com
i was arrested in the equal rights rally in long beach on friday. someone contacted me who was also arrested but he wasnt very good at communicating. if you were arrested or if you have pictures of me being arrested, please contact me. i was giving away pins at the rally: ONE FOR ALL and i was wearing a t-shirt with that design. i was happy to see so many wonderful people overcome inertia and stand up for equal and human rights. let the revolution shine.
i was arrested in the equal rights rally in long beach on friday. someone contacted me who was also arrested but he wasnt very good at communicating. if you were arrested or if you have pictures of me being arrested, please contact me. i was giving away pins at the rally: ONE FOR ALL and i was wearing a t-shirt with that design. i was happy to see so many wonderful people overcome inertia and stand up for equal and human rights. let the revolution shine.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
best laid
well millie and dc and i didnt take public transportation into la for various reasons. but maybe we should have... the freeway traffic was slow and when we got off the freeway, the traffic on sunset was worse because of preparations for a the no on 8 rally... we ended up going round about and making it to the theater just in time for the movie.
the world we want: the movie was good. not great. i had two problems with it: the editing was too fast and there were several missed opportunities in the narrative. but it was uplifting and touch the emotions of everyone. the director was very sweet.
we didnt go the reception after the movie but chose to go to the roosevelt hotel for a drink (since we couldnt make it for one before). but the roosevelt had an event and we left there and went to a little dive called snow white. (snow whites star was not in front of the bar as one would think but across the street and up a block toward the roosevelt.) it was decorated with paintings from the disney film. and they had beers the size of your forearm.
it was a favorite place of millies friend rene who was a cool guy and we all had fun listening to the 60s-70s music. van morrison (who was performing at the hollywood bowl two blocks away while we drinking), david bowie, simon and garfunkel... and more beer than four people needed.
when we came out of the bar, the prop 8 protest had somehow followed me (according to dc) and the intersection was blocked by police in riot gear. they werent ready to arrest people and the police were only there to keep traffic ~ especially foot traffic ~ away from the protestors. i wasnt intimidated and went to talk to a couple of the police but the girls were apprehensive and dragged me away. i didnt understand how they were really afraid and i should have paid more attention to their feelings. we couldnt get through to the car parkinglot without going around another way. it wasnt bad and we were soon on the way home.
i had neglected to bring stickers etc and nothing much went as planned but we had a nice night.
for no on prop 8 t-shirts, stickers, pins: http://royanthonyshabla.com
the world we want: the movie was good. not great. i had two problems with it: the editing was too fast and there were several missed opportunities in the narrative. but it was uplifting and touch the emotions of everyone. the director was very sweet.
we didnt go the reception after the movie but chose to go to the roosevelt hotel for a drink (since we couldnt make it for one before). but the roosevelt had an event and we left there and went to a little dive called snow white. (snow whites star was not in front of the bar as one would think but across the street and up a block toward the roosevelt.) it was decorated with paintings from the disney film. and they had beers the size of your forearm.
it was a favorite place of millies friend rene who was a cool guy and we all had fun listening to the 60s-70s music. van morrison (who was performing at the hollywood bowl two blocks away while we drinking), david bowie, simon and garfunkel... and more beer than four people needed.
when we came out of the bar, the prop 8 protest had somehow followed me (according to dc) and the intersection was blocked by police in riot gear. they werent ready to arrest people and the police were only there to keep traffic ~ especially foot traffic ~ away from the protestors. i wasnt intimidated and went to talk to a couple of the police but the girls were apprehensive and dragged me away. i didnt understand how they were really afraid and i should have paid more attention to their feelings. we couldnt get through to the car parkinglot without going around another way. it wasnt bad and we were soon on the way home.
i had neglected to bring stickers etc and nothing much went as planned but we had a nice night.
for no on prop 8 t-shirts, stickers, pins: http://royanthonyshabla.com
Saturday, November 8, 2008
the next day
if i can walk, tonight dc and millie and i will take the green line to the blue line to something or other and end up for a drink at the roosevelt hotel before the afi film screening of "the world we want" sponsored by legal aid (whom mille works for ~ it is her promotional event). i will recount my stories of being arrested for peaceful civil disobedience (failure to disperse) in long beach last night. and we will do graffiti. and distribute protest poetry. what an evening planned... if i can walk.
please note: there is an astrological configuration ~ saturn opposing uranus ~ that pertains to revolution and has not occured since the mid-1960s. maybe this will be the beginning of the great flowering that happened in the 60s...
but marching in protest all over town. then being arrested... and released from the police station on the opposite side of town from your car... and no one will pick you up hitch-hiking in the middle of the night with no shoe laces in your shoes (no matter how good your hair looks)... to make a long story short: revolution YES. tired, aching feet/body NO!
please note: there is an astrological configuration ~ saturn opposing uranus ~ that pertains to revolution and has not occured since the mid-1960s. maybe this will be the beginning of the great flowering that happened in the 60s...
but marching in protest all over town. then being arrested... and released from the police station on the opposite side of town from your car... and no one will pick you up hitch-hiking in the middle of the night with no shoe laces in your shoes (no matter how good your hair looks)... to make a long story short: revolution YES. tired, aching feet/body NO!
excerpt from my new book on peace revolution
PEACE
There is the thought that peace is idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical ~that it is the stuff of dreams, not meant for this world. But that is not true. Peace may well be the most pragmatic choice available to any society and the most valuable solution to the problems of this world.
That which is contrary to the natural harmony of things takes a toll on its participants far greater than its short-term rewards. War is the greatest counter-harmony endeavor imaginable. And its immediate rewards are lost in the mire of its product.
Conflict in personal matters corrupts both the physical and emotional selves; conflict in social matters corrupts the healthy and fortuitous progress of groups. The energy involved in each is better exerted toward raising the quality of life and the quality of spirit. But somehow, the directness of that idea is lost in the realm of egos.
While aggression may be a remnant of our animal nature, conflict is not the way of longevity. Harmony will outlive dissonance. And the arrogance that is the foundation of conflict will be the undoing of the aggressor. That which is great will fall.
Peace is the only logical choice for a person, a family, a society, a country, a planet. Peace is the only legacy worth endowing, the only life worth living. In every moment, there is the choice between love and fear, harmony and disharmony; wiser is the path of peace ~peace is the path of the wise.
Great minds dream alike.
to see my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com
There is the thought that peace is idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical ~that it is the stuff of dreams, not meant for this world. But that is not true. Peace may well be the most pragmatic choice available to any society and the most valuable solution to the problems of this world.
That which is contrary to the natural harmony of things takes a toll on its participants far greater than its short-term rewards. War is the greatest counter-harmony endeavor imaginable. And its immediate rewards are lost in the mire of its product.
Conflict in personal matters corrupts both the physical and emotional selves; conflict in social matters corrupts the healthy and fortuitous progress of groups. The energy involved in each is better exerted toward raising the quality of life and the quality of spirit. But somehow, the directness of that idea is lost in the realm of egos.
While aggression may be a remnant of our animal nature, conflict is not the way of longevity. Harmony will outlive dissonance. And the arrogance that is the foundation of conflict will be the undoing of the aggressor. That which is great will fall.
Peace is the only logical choice for a person, a family, a society, a country, a planet. Peace is the only legacy worth endowing, the only life worth living. In every moment, there is the choice between love and fear, harmony and disharmony; wiser is the path of peace ~peace is the path of the wise.
Great minds dream alike.
to see my books: http://royanthonyshabla.com
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