Friday, March 31, 2006

We all got boundary issues

“We all got boundary issues,” I think to myself. Then there is no time to think as the edge of the cliff appears and is much closer than expected. The spray of sand creates a temporary rooster tail and then the dust forms a cloud that reveals a warm westerly breeze - signed by Santa Anna.

The redistributed bits of dirt, stone and dust lie like a crescent moon. They leave a frozen record of the physics of his brush with death. Velocity, weight, gravity, stopping distance can all be calculated. But what about the heart?

He has avoided all of the medias for the past month or so. The whole thing has become one giant daily repeat. Yeah, he still checks the internet - but only once or twice a week.

“I guess there’s just a natural ebb and flow to everything…” He trails off as his thoughts disappear, reappear, transform and dematerialize.

He looks over at the kill switch located on his right side handle bar. “That’s odd, don’t remember turning that off.” Flips it back on, turns on ignition, squeezes clutch, presses ‘starter’. Engine starts easily and begins to purr immediately.

Redistributing sand and dirt once again, he spins the bike around and rejoins the asphalt road. There are no clouds. The blue azure sky hangs behind the horizon line and the black road shimmers with unharvested heat. Sometimes, he will rest his head on the tank and stare at the road as it passes inches below his feet. The proximity, so close. The sense of flying, undeniable. The asphalt becomes another kind of river. He is able to make out individual pebbles at times, nanosecond, then its gone.

The road becomes a strip of black velvet. He shoots along it, a bullet with wheels, the song of the engine, strong in his ear, an echo of the ancient past, a nanosliver of the big bang and his way of getting around.

You are there. I am sitting here, right now, staring at the photograph. The evidence. It is a picture of you with the blurry, speeding bike in the background. Your profile is contrasted perfectly with the dusky sky and there is a fire in your eye… You don’t even seem to have noticed the motorcycle… No, there is someone just outside the frame…

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Winter tale

Winter has finally arrived here in the sleepy Ojai Valley. I just enjoyed a stroll thru hail and rain. The tempearatures have been sinking into the middle 30's which makes my heatless dome less inviting. Lucky for me, I have a Big Agnes sleeping bag which has kept me toasty.

We have a great group of folks enjoying their brief stay.

With these chilly temps, the hot tub as been my favorite device. Soaking in it allows me to build up the necessary heat momentum to stay warm.

Last night, I shared a concept with some one in the hot tub. My idea is a story that goes something like this...

One day the entire world woke from an extra long deep slumber feeling super enlightened. I mean it. Call it what you want, Christ consciousness, Buddhahood, nirvana, what ever. The point is, suffering had ended and everyone was just lounging around all blissed out. Soon enough, a couple of saints, people or what ever you want to call them started to get bored. No one to heal, no one to preach to... you know what I'm saying? So then what happens is some of them start pretending to be lame or sick or blind as a favor to the rest of the enlightened humans. Time passes and at some point it becomes hugely popular for everyone to pretend that they are ill in some way. Then everyone wants to be the sick one and then it happens: no one remembers that they are enlightenened, yeah every one forgets and the world returns to its previous state of chaos.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

The Ojai Post

Tyler Suchman
hey, where are ya Didj? need the bio...Ojai Post best,
3:11 pm (6 hours ago)








Michael Byrne
to Tyler
More options 9:43 pm (1 minute ago)
Ty, sorry for the delay...

Uhh... well... here goes something off the top of my head:

Michael Byrne arrived in Ojai at the latter stages of 1998 and at some
point became known as Didj. He considers himself a multi media artist
and a student of gorilla ontology.

One question that is asked often: How did you learn how to play the didj?

I once spent 3 months in Australia. During this time, my interest and
fascination with the didjeridoo led me to ask questions about it to
various random didjers. I left Down Under with a termite didj and the
scattered knowledge of how to play it.

After several months of trying to learn the elusive circular breathing
technique, I put this ancient instrument aside. Several more months
passed before I found something else: tai chi. After six months of
practicing this sublime martial art, I grabbed the didj and restarted
my quest for the circular breath.

Two weeks later, I broke on thru to the circular side.

This experience is just one drop in the metal bucket placed on the
floor of my geodesic dome. I have been exploring body sensory
awareness for over 11 years. This has cleared away some of the debris
or at least enough to allow for a nice place to land when my wings get
tired.

I've been writing for about 26 years.

Didj
Link