Happy New Year!!!

California is great, hiking everyday (10 miles+) and making the most of the beaches, valleys, mountains, deserts (my only regret is that El Oso isn't in town, so that I could meet him and let him know how much I appreciate his writing and pictures--Oso when I get back to blogging I'll have pictures for you to remind you of our homeplace).

I'll start Dialogic up in the first weeks of January, but for now I am enjoying being disconnected (very refreshing and healthy)... I will have a lot to say when I get back as I have been spending this time in my homeplace becoming myself (or re-acquainting myself with my selves...) through the places and people that formed and shaped me. I have always had a strong belief in the power of place (environment) and this trip has re-enforced that conception/belief...

No matter where we are, what we are doing, the first positive political/spiritual step is to make our places open, creative, experimental and stimulating (hello Lexington I am coming back--we have work to do ;) Resist the fearful/reactionary impulse of those that seek to close down and control our environment/s and those that fear our jousissance (that wild creative ecstatic impulse to fully enjoy life--life as experiment and ecstasy and enlightenment, as opposed to the impulse that seeks to control our desires for profit and status)...

You know the last posts on this site were my way of coming to terms with a very dark year, now you will have to excuse me as I embrace my natural optimistic/idealistic nature. I spent most of this year listening to people, and observing them, I was lost, and wanted some direction... from my earliest days of learning I had always used the socratic method of learning... asking questions when you don't have any answers, seeking wisdom through forming questions, and testing one's environment (in its diverse manifestatations--real and virtual, as if these terms could be concrete and not porous). One thing I learned was that few people really listen, so, as a New Year's Eve wish I would encourage everyone to take some time and quiet your own voice (inner and outer--and the mediated voices we use to supplement our own voice) and listen (shhh) to what is important to you (beings and places) ... take some time to get out of your everyday routine... if you are so fortunate to be loved and loving in return, surprise that lover with innovation and creativity... likewise remake your environment ... resist the impulse to be a wage slave (think of your favorite SF robot) and break out of the confining roles that have been forced upon you from childhood... take chances, embrace randomness... surprise people ... trust me it is stimulating, it is erotic, it is loaded with possibilities... if only we would dare to imagine something different!!!

Thanks for all of the kind responses to the previous post (BW, I have been staying offline and will reply to your email when I am back to work--sorry for the delay)

How do we conceive of a poetics/politics of love (radical in the sense of you should love being alive and being yourself--you should also value this in your family, friends and lovers--love never seeks to control)?

Happy New Year comrades!!!