drink water

be the water. water flows onward always. it penetrates the crevices, it wears down resistance, it stops to fill deep places, then moves on. it always holds on to its true nature & always flow with the forces in the cosmos.

$3.09 per gallon???

i thought it was a joke. thinking, they can't do that. can they? this has to be unlawful. but, alas, they can. these damn gas stations are asking for drivers to pay $3.09 and up for regular gas. not the premium 93% gas, but the even more watered down 87% regular unleaded.

does anyone see anything wrong with this picture? i remember gas used to $1.19 be per gallon now we're in the $3 range. the media was making a big fuss about the soaring cost of gas last summer. everyone was talking about it. you couldn't go to the gas station without witnessing strangers becoming panel members on the topic. something happened and the prices eventually went down. over the past couple of months, though, the prices have been sneaking back up. adding on a few cents every couple of days, on the sly, going by unnoticed until here we are - back at outrageous. now the media is silent, the buyers of this over priced gas are silent, and everyone is just accepting it. forced to be gas whores. i feel so violated every time i pump my gas, that i have to rush home to take a shower. these are some shameful times, i tell ya. just shameful.

so, what can we do about this? something has to give. there's a problem going on. it's affecting my pockets and i am super not feeling it. $45 to fill up a hyundai elantra? we must be approaching the last days. i knew there was a reason i never wanted a hummer.

can anyone feel me on this?

automated BS

ok...i put this off long enough. gotta blog about it. for the past week my home phone rings faithfully every morning. when i answer, it's an automated message from a darlene daniels informing me that her office has made numerous attempts to contact an adult at my number. in a pissed off tone, she's demanding a call back. she doesn't give any specifics, like her company name or the purpose for her early morning call. she says the law won't permit her to say more. but a call back is mandatory. she does, however, recognize that she could have the wrong number so she uses that as support for why it's so important for someone to call her back at the 888 number she gives so freely. she ends it by saying this is not a sales call.

for one...who is this chick? it's really hilarious, yet highly annoying, that she expects me to answer my phone early in the morning and get her taped voice in my eardrums. what's even more comical...after realizing that it's not really her waking me up, but her voice-clone, i'm supposed to, not hang up but, stay on the phone, listen to her seriously vague and extended pre-recorded message, write her number down (that's if i had a pen in hand, i'm still waking up, remember), and dial her undisclosed company's digits from my phone - all on MY time. she has got to be kidding me. let me get this right. ms. darlene daniels couldn't find it in her heart to take the time to personally dial my number, speak to me in her LIVE voice, and get all the answers she's so desperately seeking to retrieve. yet, she expects me to take the time to reach out to her. lol. she even tries to lure me in with, "this is not a sales call." honestly, i'm not that curious. i wouldn't care if she was calling to give me a millions dollars or if there's a warrant out for my arrest. i'm not about to call her, she gave me nothing. it would be nice to tell her the truth, though. maybe i should send a pre-recorded message of my voice tailored just for her and her company. it would go something like this. "i just got this phone number a week ago. i don't know who you're trying to contact. please never call and wake me up again. ever in life. seriously. thanks for your cooperation."

my thirsty friend darlene isn't the only one struggling to make contact. walgreens has been on that bandwagon too. their automated message tells me my prescription is ready. threatening to ship it back if i don't pick it up. even though they provided their company name and location, i'd still love to tell them something too. "what prescription, walgreens? i don't need medicine."

ah, the joys of a new home phone number.

wouldn't these businesses accomplish more with a live person on the line? this way they can more effectively gather knowledge from their directed target, instead of sending these "seek and intimidate" automated messages to resting beauties like myself, who have absolutely nothing to do with their workflow. they'll never accomplish their goal waiting on me to call and set them straight. if only they knew that a live representative should've been on the line when i answered my phone. then they would be in-the-know instead of rocking the land of the unknown. ultimately, they're wasting a lot of time and bothering innocent monthly phone-payers.

this whole idea of pre-recorded voice messages that automatically dial your number on a cycle bothers me. it rubs me the wrong way, just like unlimited amount of automated services that's wiping out good clean and wholesome customer service. these robot-machine voices love to prompt you, too, with their, "press 1 for this, 2 for that, 3 for kiss my ass, and if your dumb ass forgot what i told ya press the * key." yada, yada, and more yada's. it's definitely pushing the same load of crap. you call a company to discuss an account and end up taking notes from a machine that can't hear you. i especially love the ones that want you to talk to them, they tell you to use your voice (like they got ears) instead of pushing buttons. when you attempt to use english, the machine-voice lady says, "i'm sorry, i couldn't understand you. would you please repeat that." i'm thinking, of course, you can't understand me, you're not human. i'm forced to repeat myself (i usually dedicate this time to say, BITCH get me a representative) until finally she transfers me to a live person. which is all i wanted in the first place. who has time to listen to this alien talk? what happened to the good old days when you called up a place of business and got a live person right away. you knew when you hung up, you were on the same page as the representative. no surprises later. like, "what do you mean you never received that $150 payment i made over the phone, last week?". that shot-out goes to sprint.

is this the day and age we live in? live voices are becoming extinct? i bet the people who were not around to experience the telephone, wouldn't have guessed in a million years that people would take such a wonderful invention for granted. just imagine, having to wait on that man with a horse to ride your letter over the river and thru the woods, only for your recipient to receive your message months later. seems drawn out, doesn't it? now we have phones everywhere and can speak and be heard immediately, yet dread taking the time out to communicate with our fellow man or woman. there are way too many voice-clones seeking feedback and machine-lady voices asking for push button and vocal responses. where's the human connection?

u-n-i-verse

building. reading. being. seeing. meeting you for the first time. using my 3rd eye.
changing. rearranging. debating. relating. accepting the infinite me. the mystical me.
smiling. laughing. hugging. loving. respecting the inner me. the delicious me.
uplifting. protecting. nurturing. growing. drifting within the depths of my soul. free to be me.
shaking. rotating. spinning. moving. claiming my existence. appreciating the kinetic me.
feeling electrons dance. seeking to find the path of least resistance. defenseless. living to be righteous.
grooving to the drummers in my band. on my land. in my mind. in my time. i am one with the universe. with u i verse. first.

u-n-i-verse

one!

groovin'

peace family,

i went to the ice bar for the first time on saturday night. i did my regular intro routine - got a drink and made my way to the dance floor. to me, going out is all about the dancing. there is a certain type of freedom that comes with shaking your groove thang to some delicious music. hips gyrate, the soul is lifted, your heart is light, and its all about the feeling you possess at that moment. humbling yourself to that invisible force that makes your spine move. the dance floor was located between the bar and a roped off area with couches and tables, where the special people sat (lol, i'll touch down on this topic momentarily). with my glass in hand, i couldn't help but notice that there was no one else on the dance floor. i've been known to exaggerate from time to time, but i mean, literally, NO ONE was on the floor. it was perfect!! there is nothing like an empty floor for me to work it on. yes, all eyes were on me. i was in a zone, commanding everyone's attention and loving every second of it. i like the night life, i like to boogie.

after a while, i step to the ladies room & check myself. i'm still fly, so i work my way back to the foundation of my livelihood...the liberating dance floor. on the way, this extremely tall man bumps into me, damn near trampling me over. i jokingly throw both my hands up, smiling, while my eyes were screaming "pardon me, mr. man-in-a-hurry, i'm only 5' even, please look out for the little people." just then, i realized that this man-in-a-hurry was michael jordan, wearing an all white waffle print jordan sweatshirt, tucked inside his stonewashed jeans (that were pulled up way too high, i feel), rocking a black belt and a black kango hat tilted to the back. he threw me a smile and proceeded to the front VIP section.

so there was jordan, sitting in VIP, smoking his cigar, texting the hell out of someone. during his text-breaks, i would see him watch me as i danced. and as if he could help it. i mean, not only was i doing the damn thang on the floor, i was the only one on it for a LONG time. i can't trip though, my girl did come and join me after a while. jordan found us humorous as we did old school dances. eventually, the other people shook off their shyness and started dancing. i was ready for the company too, i do enjoy the party feel. you know, where there's more than 2 people on the floor. periodically, i'd look up and jordan'd be smiling at me. using slang body language, i reminded him that he was "throwing them bows" at me earlier. he understood my message, and laughed. it was nice to see him out in public, though. i kept thinking, damn, this man has the capabilities of getting me completely out of debt. and it'd wouldn't leave not one dent in his finances. ah, the possibilites. i did, however, pride myself on not being a groupie. it was interesting to see the amount of chicks and men that were gawking at him as if he gave birth to them. this world is definitely a trip. ya just never know who you're going to run into on a saturday night in chicago. in my eyes, though, everyone's the same. i don't honor hierachy systems.

which brings me to the topic of the VIP section. what is this area all about? a bunch of over-the-top cats, drinking their champaign and other high priced beverages, with model chicks sitting pretty, no one is dancing, everybody's posing without any cameras around, and all of this exciting stuff is happening behind velvet ropes. who are these people? the watchers of the party? feeling special b/c they're seperated from the peasants. it made me ponder, can a velvet rope really seperate anyone seeking to enter this forbidden area? i mean, if anyone was really that interested and denied admittance, i'm sure they can take out that one muscle bound shorty in the way too tight t-shirt guarding the ropes and step right over. right?? it just doesn't seem like proper security for these very important people. i'm surprised they weren't sitting behind a glass wall with holes strategically placed so that they can still breath and watch. c'mon, is it really that serious? and this place had 2 VIP sections. as if one wasn't enough. some of the boston celtic team were holding down the one located by the bathrooms, and jordan rocked the one in the front. during the night, i was invited to both of the VIP sections (and of course i was, not only was i sexy, i owned the dance floor). each time i got invited, i stepped inside only to retrieve a drink from the restricted area and immediately stepped back out to shake my groove thang with the common folk. i'm a simple woman, ya know.

peace love and respect