Peace

 

T-shirt

 Does anybody know where I can get a T-shirt with Taylor Swift on one sleeve, Travis Kelce on the other sleeve, Joe Burrow on the front and Barbie on the back?

Caregivers

 

Sex

 All evolution and biology wants of us in our sexual lives is to reproduce and survive as a species. But over time, human consciousness and human culture have put other motivations and restrictions on sexual behavior. In modern times sexual practice has been more open about these motivations and more confrontational toward these restrictions. We acknowledge that sex can be pleasure, brutality, communication, addiction, comfort, predatory, love and more.

Sex between individuals of the same gender or of different races or ethnicities is more openly practiced. This has forced religion, society and politics to respond with more laws and rules. This is the contemporary flux we find ourselves in, but with uneven resolution.
We get hung up on the way sex is practiced, but don’t consider how sexualized our society has become. We get hung up on the way sex is practiced but forget the message: Do no harm.

Sacred

 For one day, believe that everything is sacred.

Chest Hair

 

MAGA

 

Art does

 Art does whatever you ask of it: fills a wall, matches the couch, fits your style, brings you comfort, shows you beauty, dives deep into reality, challenges you, challenges society, transforms the way you see, reveals the sacred.

Ask the most of art. Expect the most from art. Let it ask the most of you.

Joe

 The only solution is for Joe Burrow to start dating Beyonce.

Campaign

 American political campaigns are too long, too negative and too expensive. Campaign money pours into media coffers with ads that are crafted by marketers and spin doctors. Candidates are constructed by speech writers and reputation managers.

If I were a candidate, this would be my strategy. I would spend little money on campaign ads, none negative. I would turn my campaign funds into private support for effective programs. I would go (on a modest budget) to places where the important issues were evident and speak to ordinary people—homeless shelters, daycare centers, manufacturing plants, city governments, police stations, hospitals. I would ask what’s working and what’s not working. I would discuss with them my ideas and strategies for improvement. Then I would find a program related to our discussions which needs funding and make a donation.
Hopefully, this would get media coverage, word of mouth support and show them my concern, support and leadership in action.

Spectcle

 Spectacle is not beauty.

Spectacle is in the moment. Beauty infects.
Spectacle is noisy and excessive. Beauty transforms.
Spectacle is seductive. Beauty offers depth.
Spectacle is entertainment. Beauty is art.

Immigration

 

MAGA

 Donald Trump has shown the world that he is a narcissist, a liar, a convicted sex abuser, an indicted criminal, an ego that transcends the Constitution, a twice-impeached President and an amoral man. He did not do in his last term what he promised to do. He expressed admiration for Putin. He masterfully manipulates his followers with his witch hunt ploy.

With all of this he still has many staunch followers who want to see him in a second term as President. Who this man is and what he does comes from his character. So, I ask myself how this can be.
The answer for me. The MAGA Republican movement has not made America great again. Just the opposite. But it is a movement based on fear: fear of change, fear of loss of privilege, fear of the other, fear of the immigrant. It is fear of so many of the things that have actually made America great.
The danger of Trump and MAGA is real.

Evil

 There is no solution to the problem of evil. Evil is in our nature and manifests itself—even if in small bits--both through us and through our institutions. Look at our world. Love hasn’t conquered evil. Peace hasn’t conquered evil. Intelligence hasn’t conquered evil. Imagination hasn’t conquered evil. Creativity hasn’t conquered evil. Religion hasn’t conquered evil. Government hasn’t conquered evil, choosing to take on this demanding, constant work.

In the end, it’s the work of the individual to choose to do the hard and persistent work required to live a moral and compassionate life.

Decent

 Which American institutions encourage and support us in becoming decent human beings?

100 lives

 From: 100 Lives (Condensed)

He knew even as a pre-teen that he would have a penis of formidable size. Embarrassed, he kept it under wraps as best he could for as long as he could. He never named it, and for a long time resisted the obvious career choices. But hard times forced his hand, and he turned out to be a natural at porn. He made an enviable living and won numerous awards for his acting. Through all his years in the business, his parents never knew. When he died, he chose to be cremated. Nobody was going to make a trophy of his manhood.

Beauty

 What’s the last thing of real beauty you put into the world?

Children

 Dear Children of the World,

We’ve gifted you with guns, violence, drugs, sex trafficking, mental illness, predatory social media, pornography, famine, homelessness, climate disaster, dysfunctional families, absent parents, poor educational opportunities, life in refugee camps and uneven medical care.
We’ve taught you that war is always an option in all its brutality and killing.
Still, there’s some hope in the compassion and service of those who love the world.
But there it is.
Good luck,
The World’s Adults

Experience

 

Cathedrals

 The great cathedrals

Filled with gold, marble and gems
Art and craft abound

Their architecture
Captures soaring space and light
And makes it sacred

Was it easier
To build glorious Chartres
Than love one another

Masculinity

 The efforts of women to define what they want to be in the world, has affected how men define their masculinity. Masculinity is expressed in many different ways in nations, ethnicities, religions and groups. So to define masculinity is not an easy task.

In American culture via American entertainment media, what is not healthy masculinity is easy to find. But I think there something that can be called healthy masculinity, though I have not identified its core elements, if they indeed exist.
I believe masculinity is fluid, even in the same man. Masculinity expressed among male friends is different from masculinity expressed with a partner and still different from masculinity expressed with children or masculinity expressed in worship. Certainly, there has to be strength, flexibility, reliability, responsibility, trust, and the ability to make love evident. A very demanding task.
A look at toxic masculinity perhaps can add some perspective. Toxic masculinity is toxic because it is the same for all interactions of the man because it is always about him and his needs and never about the other. Narcissism and the need to control poison the ability to love.
The classic example of toxic masculinity is Donald Trump. He was never loved and does not know how to love. Look at his children. Look at how he treats Melania. Look at Stormy Daniels. Look at his uncovered comments about women.
In the end though, masculinity should be one manifestation of being a decent human being.
The elephant in the room of masculinity is male sexuality and its evolutionary, biological, social, cultural, psychological and emotional aspects. But that’s a discussion for another time.

Being

 At first, I was timid and reluctant, but I finally let the deep things out. Inside they were feelings, let out they were thoughts, thoughts that were penetrating and persistent. They were all about becoming a human being.

Need love

 Romance isn’t it.

Mushy love isn’t it.
Love wrapped in roses and candy isn’t it.
Love as sex isn’t it.
Timid love isn’t it.
We need courageous love.
We need dependable love.
We need love that doesn’t back down.
We need love that smothers hate.
We need love that teaches love.
We need love that understands suffering.

Band names 3

 Band names

Power faucets
Putin’s little thing
Melania’s second closet
Fizzy cocktails
Platypus Rodeo
Feckless Playboys
Ladies with Hatchets
Too Big for my Pants
Dysfunctional Religion
Gone Viral
Chest Hair
Polyester Love
The Queen’s Nipples
Freshly Pressed Skivvies
Journey to Nowhere
Flannel Thongs
Phlox
Vegan Brain Matter
Please Me, Please Me

Music and art

 What music should play alongside your art?

Mine would be a Gregorian chant, Hildegard von Bingen.

New Year

 My New Year’s resolution:

DO WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO.