Viruses, Rap and Black Crowes

Computers are definitely funny things. Last year I spent over $300 getting my computer fixed because it had a nasty virus. Several nights ago I punched in a website and it killed my internet hook up. I have been cleaning it with every medicine possible over the past several days, and hopefully all is well.

IT IS TRUE! The People's Champ, Paul Wall is coming to Nashville! He will be playing the same exact night as the Black Crowe's play world famous Ryman Auditorium. So, who am I going to see? Paul Wall. I love the Crowe's, and perhaps I can catch their set and move on over to the club to "grind" with the Ultimate King of the Parking Lot, but I do not want to miss the spectacle of the hottest thing in rap. Seeing Paul Wall at this point in time would be something like seeing Nirvana in a club right before or right after, "Nevermind" hit. Well, maybe not as much that as perhaps seeing Soundgarden. Pearl Jam and Nirvana hit the masses first, but Soundgarden was thriving as well. It just took them a bit longer to hit the masses. That's kind of what Paul Wall is doing in conjunction with MIKE JONES ("I'm Mike Jones! MIKE JONESSSSSS!")

I have alot to say about a wonderful book called, "The Mastery of Love." Written by Miguel Ruiz, the author of "The Four Agreements," I must say that it is one of the most brutal books about who we are as people and how we relate to each other. I will save this for another post, but I highly suggest this reading to all. Especially after writing some of my rants on beliefs and organized religion, this book is a loving slap into the face of how we don't accept people for who they are, and how we allow our fears of reprisal from an early age to taint our ability to accept people, ourselves and the reality of our world.

A weekend in Memphis last Friday-Sunday proved to be good medicine. Sophia(see the photo above of this beautiful little one, who turns 9 in less than a month) and I holed up in the Wyndham in downtown Memphis and just enjoyed some down time. We swam a bit, watched shows on National Geographic about giant snakes and crocodiles, bowled, ate, and played video games Sophia is in third grade now, and loving her new school. She is taller than most kids in her class, smart as a whip, and being challenged by a vibrant new environment.

I wish all of you peace and well being. With a brother going into surgery this week, a father with a broken wrist, and another brother with eye issues, I am reminded how fragile and impermanent our lives here are. Our bodies are not permanent. The only real moment that we have is right now. Tomorrow will take care of itself. It really doesn't even matter, because we have no control over tomorrow or yesterday, they don't exist. I am having to slap my own self in the face with this reality, as I beat myself up for things I have done, that don't exist any more, that I cannot control any more.

August wanes. The throes of heat are dimming as Tennessee cries out for autumn. The maelstorm of weather is a cosmic indication that even the skies would like a little gray at this point.