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Mornings at the Fishbowl
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 596
At the fishbowl cafe, early, always, get warm, filled with other get-warmers, typically the homeless just setting out to kill an 18 hour day. Conversing with the young female baristas, at tones loud enough for the entire cafe to hear, about Dodge Trucks and how much gas they use and he'd never be able to pedal the gas for fear it would run out, and - you know, he'd never be able to pedal the gas because he'd never acquire a license to drive, never raise enough on the street to buy a truck, let alone the tank of gas, and so this conversation, entirely irrelevant, but the barista's bearing it with an admirable stoicism.
Next up is K***y, a wreck I see every day, gaunt, bearded, he travels all over town with his bags filled with (???), not unhoused, he's maybe in his 70's, severely disabled, but he's got the tricks, he stands beside me and shuffles the three dimes in his hand, trying to get together enough for a coffee, it's impossible, he knows, and so he rolls his eyes imploringly at me...
He'd done this to me yesterday, I'm an easy mark, clearly he is one of the least fortunate, least capable of Nelson's homeless contingent, and I don't even think he's homeless, he's got a place somewhere, institution, but he's capable enough he's given free reign over his days and spends them on the bus to Balfour or Nelson and all points in between....
Once he's secured funding for his coffee he begins in his halted, peculiar tones to discuss the impeachment of Trump, and I need really to find another café to warm up in these first few hours before the library opens...
More Shamans than Doctors
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 733
I see these signs everywhere. And - I don't devalue the treatments, but - a lot of people equivocate this with science and medicine. Which - unfortunately, it largely isn't. "Wellness" is a vague term which is only but partially addressed in this.
Still, they make me laugh.
The Tarot - Alfred Douglas
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 1104
Considerably simpler and much more readable than Jodorowski's treatment of the same.
Filled with Jungian references, the history of the Tarot, various incidental characters and metaphysicians, alchemists and other occultists both known and unknown, more obscure writers for me to trap down, these are all spurs to my curiosity.
He makes plain what you knew all along, the interpretations of the cards relatively straightforward and memorable - and - flipping back to Jodorowski; realize that it is possible to give a little too much information. His whole "If the Cards Could Speak" bit is a little over-the-top, if you ask me...
One recalls Bruhl-Levy and Primitive Mind, in which nothing occurs by chance, and so if you place your faith in the cards then so be it, but - JC and the Bible oppose; for you and you alone are the arbitrar of fate.
Nonetheless, the rich symbolism of the cards attracts, and the many ways to shuffle and approach the journey are intriguing to me. As was the information that Manly P. Hall and Knapp conspired to produce their own Tarot Deck, (Link: https://www.prs.org/store/p2910/The_Knapp-Hall_Tarot_Deck_--_Limited_Edition_Reprint.html) which, given Manly's stance on the Occult I suspect were more for meditative than divinatory purposes, although, as we know, in life more than two things, even entirely contradictory, can be true.
Anyways, enjoying this, a pleasant break from Henry James and the melancholy canals and churches of Venice.
Meet the Artist: Art for People
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Other
- Hits: 912
Spotted while on the tour at Rossland's "Alpine Grind",
Link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063621426065
Link: Artforpeople.ca (on the business card, but didn't work when I tried. Maybe it needs updating?)(Tried again, works fine. Clearly the issue is me.)
I admire the spontaneity of it...and in an odd way it kind of works. And you might think I'm being facetious, but I do find much to admire in people who proceed without the self-doubts or inner monologue that plague others, that sees them execute an idea without any great planning or reflection.
That said, I'm definitely not that guy. Or, better put, I'm that guy in a vehicle with no clutch, brakes or transmission, but I'm not that guy with a paintbrush.
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