The time has come the walrus said,

to talk of many things, of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings!
And why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings-

~ Lewis Carroll

I think everyone knows the natural response to this piece of Alice in Wonderland (reprinted here without permission as it is public domain, and Carroll is unfortunately quite dead) is that pigs do have wings.

That's all the segue I have.

Announcing the launch of Project Genesis, which has haunted my days and nights for a year now, and has grown legs to walk around on. A picture to clear up my garbled explanation:

Yes, this is the project I've been mysteriously eluding too. Was it annoying? I simply cannot leave this earth or my 20's without creating this act. You can read more about the thought behind this WIP and donate to the cause by clicking on this convenient link:

THE LINK!! OH YEAH! ----> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/genesis/genesis-air-water-life


What can one person do to be interesting in a Petri dish full of water? Things like this:

Please! Visit the page and tell me what you think, or toss it towards anyone you think might be interested. Even sharing with one person can make all the difference in the world. Deepest gratitude,
Rachel

Oh the places you'll go...

...
and where are all of YOU right now? Do tell...the truth of my right now is that it's the evening after the final thaw of snowmageddon in Seattle 2012, in which most of us were stranded in our homes due to insane snowdrifts encasing vehicles, freaked out drivers (including myself), and snow that wouldn't. Stop. Falling.

Of course the snow does eventually stop. This is the nature of a cyclical world. But that doesn't make any difference whatsoever when you're waiting for the snow to melt...it always seems like it might just stay freezing and white forever.

Here's what I did with one of my snow days, given company by the most excellent Gary Kirkland and the beautiful Tanya Brno, photography by Shaun Vann, to whom I gave a camera for Christmas and so created a happy monster indeed:



Otherwise, the days are peppered with neverending quests...for one-arm meathooks, perfect levers, and the illusive full pretzel.

You will be mine. Oh yes! You will be mine.

Plus, a not-so-secret project which I am to unveil very shortly, to the oohs and aahs of at least 7 people I hope...stay tuned. Stay warm. Stay fed, and hungry, at once.

Let's Get Ugly Beautiful

Every New Year, I think everyone sees how long they can go without screwing it up. Then once you screw it up (and you will, it is essential that we understand this) you go back to living amongst the detritus of your mistakes, unaware of their true nature and unaware of the true nature of your victories as well. You go back to not paying attention.

Or maybe that's just me. If it is, please let me know.

It seems to me that at any time, I have two options. To turn and face the abyss, or to keep it coolly at my back. One way is examination, the other is avoidance. This wasn't always the case; when I was younger I didn't hide things from myself, I didn't need to- I could be unproductive for days at a time and it made no difference, because I was 7. Climbing trees and walking through the woods either singing or crying for no reason were equally effective at being business at usual.

Abyss is an ill-sounding word. And it is terrifying in its nature, which is that it doesn't lie. So I can either know the truth and stand inside of it, or I can know it at the back of my subconscious, poisoning what should have been the beautiful and transcendent hours of my life.

But perhaps the most evil side-effect of the unwillingness to face the difficult, the disgusting, and disheartening about your own brain-bubble is that the act of avoiding it divides your focus. With a divided focus, you achieve divided accomplishments, incomplete and tainted from conception to completion. I myself have created hundreds of half-realized aerial pieces, written manifestos, coffee dates, hugs, and training sessions; doomed to be sub-par glory because of their stunted DNA... I wasn't paying attention. And I didn't want to, or told myself I had to save my energy for Whatever Excuse I Had. And knowing this, I can look in hindsight at these pieces of my half-life and know this with certainty: that nothing would have been more essential than to stop saving myself, turn to the ugly void, and with a mouth spewing ashes, let it all go to hell.

It really seems like a no-brainer. But since when did that make a difference to anyone?

So whatever, here's to a new year filled with weeping in the dark, peeing with the door open, shrieking in front of the mirror, and a happiness without a hole in it.