I'm still around, despite things. Life has been difficult this past year, to say the least. I've dealt with a lot of loss and change over the past 12 months or so, and more ahead of me as the new year approaches.
To keep it brief: I'll be leaving this place and returning to the east coast. I've been yearning for that for some time now, but as with all major life changes, it comes with a whole range of complicated and intense mixed emotions: I've lost my primary income and my relationship. Things are rough financially. I've been spinning my own wheels for a year. And yet I have to figure out how to get myself moved 3k miles across the country. It's a lot.
So I've decided to take a piece of it with me in the form of permanent ink, where I can hold it close to my heart forever.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a tattoo of a particular bonsai that is very very special to me: the iconic Furuzawa Pine, a specific Japanese black pine (kuromatsu) tree found at the aforementioned Pacific Bonsai Museum.
Photo of the Furuzawa Pine that I took in Dec. 2023
The Furuzawa Pine has a fascinating history. It was grown in a tin can from seed by Japanese American Juzaburo Furuzawa in the early 1940s while he was incarcerated in an internment camp in Topaz, Utah, during World War II. He probably grew several trees, but this bonsai might be the only remaining one to survive to present day.
Despite all it had been through & all the places it traveled, the Furuzawa Pine continued to survive and thrive under expert care. Then in early 2020, it and another bonsai were stolen from the Pacific Bonsai Museum. Fortunately, they were returned a couple of days later and both trees made a full recovery.
I had seen the Furuzawa Pine plenty of times before at previous visits
to the PBM, but this news story really captivated me. Of all
the specimens there, it may not be the most showy or unique tree -
Japanese black pine are very common bonsai - but its history really
makes it special. Its particular species of tree is a symbol of
resilience, longevity, and strength: themes that resonate with me very
deeply, especially in the past few years. The Furuzawa Pine is very special to me now, and every time I see it in person it's like seeing an old friend.
Last night into today marks the Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere. I spent the early morning hours watching the live stream of sunrise at Newgrange in Ireland.
The Winter Solstice is an astronomical phenomenon that marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice occurs on 21 or 22 December, when the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn. At sunrise on the shortest day of the year, for 17 minutes, direct sunlight can enter the Newgrange monument, not through the doorway, but through the specially contrived small opening above the entrance known as the ‘roof box’, to illuminate the Chamber.
And then I left the house before dawn to try and get a glimpse of the
rising sun from my part of the world. Alas, too cloudy/rainy; nevertheless, I felt a sense of peace as the sky grew brighter.
In the next couple of months, I will be enduring a lot of things and going thru big life changes that will test my resilience. I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm pretty fucking scared. But I'm going to do my best to remember that the dark times don't last. The sun will rise again and bring back the light. I am resilient and strong. I can keep going. And I will find joy and peace and reasons to love living again.
The dark half of the year, the season of death, approaches.
For those of us closely aligned with the Autumn season, I think there comes a
point every year (and it is
probably different for each of us, & on a different day each year) when you
wake up and something has turned. The bone-deep feeling that summer has begun to wane as autumn
approaches.
It doesn't really have anything to do with hot weather,
or lack thereof (so far, we've had a pretty mild summer in western
Washington, knock on wood), but -- a certain slant of sunlight, or the way the wind sounds in the trees, or just -- something. Something crosses
a threshold and suddenly, there it is, as obvious as flipping a light switch. You just know. You can feel it.
The ancient holidays known as Lammas/Lughnasadh occur around Aug
1st, celebrating the first of the year's big harvest festivals. Crops are plentiful
at this time, and we might be thinking about what has come to fruition,
literally and metaphorically.
For me, this year, that day of The Switch was the 25th of July. I woke up and just felt it in the air as the morning breeze came in through the window. On my way throughout the errands of the day, I came upon a small dead bird on our
sidewalk. I don't know what happened to him, why he died. He looked like he was sleeping. We picked
him up to place him on the far side of our yard so he wouldn't just
get picked up by someone else and tossed in the trash. He deserved a
dignified resting place as he becomes one with the Earth again. I placed
a tiny flower by his head and blew him a kiss goodnight.
Feralia, observed annually on 21st February, is an ancient Roman holiday to honor the souls of the dead.
Common offerings to the departed were bread, salt, and flowers. Take a moment tonight to remember your loved ones who have gone ahead to the great beyond.
No matter what time of year it is, the moon always brings me back to the mystical, mysterious feelings that I associate with autumn & the Halloween season.
I spent part of my evening meditating, reading Tarot, and drinking tea.
Do you feel a connection to the Moon? Do you have any special practices related to the Full Moon or any of its other phases?
Partner & I couldn't decide what to watch last night, but ended up with this - it's been hyped as a dark comedy, plus the promise of gratuitous gore, sex, and demons sounded fun.
Based on other reviews I've read, people seem to either love or hate this film. I'm about right in the middle. It had some funny moments, some great gore FX, a few moments of hypnotic occult visuals, and it definitely went some places I didn't expect, so it wasn't entirely predictable - but the pacing was a bit strange, and I feel there was a bit of filler as well (the group of characters getting split up and looking for each other, over and over again, etc.)
Would I recommend it? Hmmm. Maybe? I definitely do not recommend if you're squeamish about mutilated male genitalia. It definitely has its worthy moments. I'll let you decide for yourself. Overall, I give it 5 out of 10 jackos.
For the past couple of weeks or so I've been working feverishly on a project that I am finally ready to reveal - my virtual home haunt.
I was asked to be an artist participant in Dutch Design Week 2020for the eventManifestations: Monsters, an international program of Art, Tech & Fun Online expo during Dutch Design Week 2020 from October 17-25.
For the fifth year in a row, Manifestations shows artists who, in a funny, spectacular or controversial way, examine the (mis) matches between people and technology and ask how technology can contribute to a sweeter, more humane world.
With more than 50 works by mostly young, recently graduated artists who put the exciting interaction between people and technology in a different light.
Visit the website for the full range and program of kids workshops, lectures and meet-ups.
We offer tours and VIP tours via pers at manifestations.nl to sign up.
Manifestations is the largest Art & Tech event during Dutch Design Week.
Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, Netherlands is the largest design event in Northern Europe and presents work and concepts from more than 2,600 designers to more than 355,000 visitors from home and abroad. (link)
Usually, Dutch Design Week and its related programs are mixed-reality events - that is to say, some occur in person on locations in Eindhoven, while others are held online and in virtual-reality space. This year however, due to the pandemic, all events will all take place online.
The main Second Life event portal for Manifestations: Monsters.
Visitors arrive here, and then can teleport to the different installations at the tall kiosks on the left.
The online portion I'm involved in exists in Second Life, a virtual 3D sandbox world. My project is based on the short story "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe, and incorporating some commentary about present-day sociopolitical issues.
I currently live in a small apartment in a busy urban area, so home haunts aren't an option for me. We don't even get trick-or-treaters, we're too near busy roads with no sidewalks. Fortunately for me, I can build almost anything I want in virtual space, so it helps to scratch that Halloween itch.
Masque of the Red Death Redux 2020 is an interactive installation in which Second Life users can visit in virtual 3D space. If you have a Second Life account, you can visit this installation by following this link - http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kress/244/88/301
For those who don't have an account, I will post some screencaps below, and eventually will produce a video.
Here are some preview images:
When you arrive at the virtual space, you are given this backstory to give context to your experience.
You then begin your journey by 'teleporting' to the beginning chapter, and follow the paths through various scenes - not unlike a haunted house.
There's a few teaser images for you - next week, there will be a virtual event, where I will be interviewed, that will be livestreamed on Youtube. I'll share more details about that soon!
It's getting closer to Halloween, and I'm starting to gather the ingredients I'm going to need for this year's menu. As usual, I am making barmbrack, a type of dry fruit-filled bread of Irish origins. Traditionally, the finished loaf would have small objects hidden inside, and the communal eating of the bread would be a sort of fortune-telling game: finding the ring meant the finder would be married within the year; a coin meant riches, etc.
The name barmbrack is derived from the Irish words bairÃn - a loaf - and breac - speckled, probably due to the raisins and other bits of dried fruit in it, giving it a spotted appearance when sliced.
Here's the recipe I've used for quite a few years. This version is a quick bread, so there's no fucking around with yeast or rise times. Just simple ingredients, a little time and skill, and you'll have a fantastic loaf. It also has a great shelf life as long as it's properly covered (just as tasty 2 weeks later), and it also freezes well.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups chopped dried mixed fruit [I used a mix of different raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots, dried apples, dried dates, dried cherries, and whatever else I feel like putting in - I make sure to cut up the larger fruits into roughly raisin-size]
1 ½ cups hot brewed Irish breakfast tea
A splash of Irish whiskey (optional)
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ cup apricot preserves or orange marmelade
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Directions
Soak the dried fruit in the hot tea (& whiskey, if using) for 2 hours; do not drain the fruit.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch Bundt pan.
Stir together the flour cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda; set aside.
Whisk together the egg, sugar, preserves, and orange zest until well combined. Stir in the tea-soaked fruit and its liquid. Gently fold in the flour until just combined, then pour into the prepared Bundt pan.
Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 2 hours before removing. If adding fortune telling objects, wrap each one in a small piece of wax paper and press the objects into the fully cooled cake through the bottom before serving.
It makes a fairly thick batter. The original recipe calls for the tea-soaked fruit to be drained, but it has resulted in a much too dry batter and loaf in my experience. It might seem like a lot of liquid, but it will come out great, trust me.
Perfection. It makes the whole house smell warm and cozy, too.
It's fantastic with tea, or coffee, or hot cider, or whatever.
It's good warm or room temperature.
It's great with real butter, but also great without.
Basically, it's a fantastic fucking bread, try it!
. . . . . . .
Bonus round -- Here are some of the supposed metaphysical properties of the ingredients:
Liquids: (Tea and whiskey, two drinks with significance to Irish ancestors)
Tea: was considered an elixir of immortality by Chinese Taoists in 500 BC, and Asians have always treated its preparation as part of a sacred ceremony. Tea is thought to combat drowsiness while encouraging a Zen-like meditative state that allows one to “return to the Source.”
Whiskey: Liquors unite the feminine powers of water with the earthy essences of various fruits, vegetables, and grains by invoking a fiery “spirit” that we now call alcohol.
Fruits:
Apricot: Apricots carry feminine spiritual energy and are used to sweeten someone’s disposition or instill romance and passion in a relationship.
Cherry: have long been associated with feminine energy and divination and are used in spells throughout the world to attract suitors and discern the future.
Cranberry: provide protective energy and fight off negative influences.
Apple: known as the Fruit of the Gods, is a very powerful source of spiritual energy that encourages balance and harmony. The Wiccan Feast of Apples is celebrated on Samhain (Halloween), and in ancient Greece and Rome, apples were eaten at Diana’s Festival (August 13). If cut horizontally, the apple reveals the pentagram pattern, which is considered the gateway to occult powers as well as symbol of the quintessence. The Egyptians offered apples to their highest and most powerful priests, whom they considered guardians of hidden knowledge. In the Middle Ages, sliced apples were used to foretell the future and eating them regularly was said to enable a person to live over 200 years.
Raisin (Grape): carry spiritual energy and increase mental fertility, opening us to meaningful dreams and visions.
Dates: were considered sacred in Babylon and Greece, and the Hebrews made syrup from them as an offering to God. The fruits were also used by ancient Persians to celebrate the death and resurrection of Zoroaster, a Christ figure who dates back to 500 BC. Dried dates are considered fruits of the spiritual realm and are symbolic of the eternal resurrection of the soul.
Spices:
Cinnamon: is thought to increase spirituality and psychic insight by stimulating the Crown Chakra. The tree must grow for eight years before its thick bark is mature enough to be harvested. Cinnamon oil was used in the mummification process by the Egyptians and was applied as a holy anointing oil in ancient Hebrew rituals. Cinnamon was also sacred to the Greek god of ecstasy, Dionysus. When it is burned as incense or added to foods, cinnamon raises spiritual energy to a higher level.
Nutmeg: said to promote health and fidelity and attract good fortune, nutmegs were stuffed into Egyptian mummies and carried as lucky charms in Europe.
Other ingredients:
Egg: invokes primordial mysteries. Several psychologists have noted that our feelings about eggs predate any religious or magical tradition.
Flour (Wheat): is the most revered of the Seven Sacred Grains and represents fruitfulness, bounty, and rebirth. Because wheat fields seem to replenish themselves, the golden plant represented a cycle of resurrection into light again. Many funeral rites contain offerings of wheat as part of the ceremonies. Wheat was sacred to the Babylonian god Ishtar, the Egyptian Osiris, the Greek Demeter, and the Roman Ceres.
I had almost forgotten that this was going to be a thing til a friend of mine sent me the link to the trailer today:
I'm not a die-hard fan of the original Craft movie, although I did enjoy it - so I don't share the full-on animosity some folks are showing toward this reboot? Sequel? Whatever it is. I'll definitely watch it at some point.
My impressions from the trailer:
Ugh, that CGI glitter "magic" effect is corny as hell and needs to go. I'm not even opposed to glitter or glitter special FX, but this is just bad. I've seen more realistic Instagram filters.
The original seems like it will be the darker of the two. I can't imagine this one having anywhere near the edge of the 1996 film.
I'm gonna hold off on any more opinions til I see it.
